


A Sudden Reflection

by Skybriel



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F, F/M, OC, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-02
Updated: 2015-05-27
Packaged: 2018-03-20 21:50:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 43,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3666534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skybriel/pseuds/Skybriel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>2078, Earth. Sixty years ago, the world was suddenly besieged by the creatures of Grimm. Since the war that followed, the United Nations Defense Force sealed away the land lost to the Grimm behind massive walls, the largest of which lies just beyond the Ural Mountains in Russia, dubbed "The Scar". Now, the Ural wall is breached, the chaos of the Grimm unleashed once again, and an investigation into a mysterious communications failure brings together two teams, from two not so different worlds, with one common goal: kill Grimm.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1: Alert Level Black

_"Fate is like a strange, unpopular restaurant_  
filled with odd little waiters who bring you  
things you never asked for and don't always like." 

_-Lemony Snicket_

 

**A Sudden Reflection**

**Chapter 1: Alert Level Black**

Level Black alerts were a United Nations Defense Force state of emergency reserved for the imminent and/or ongoing threat of a significant Grimm incursion into human occupied areas. For the last forty years, Level Black alerts were synonymous with a breach in the walls that the UNDF constructed to court off regions deemed either lost to the Grimm, or too desolate from the initial war to bother attempting to reclaim.

The Ural Wall was part of the largest of these regions, dubbed The Scar, due to its size and jagged border. A wound that ran the length of Russia, into Kazakhstan. The last official time an alert of Black level had been called along the Ural Wall was during the construction of the wall itself. Since then, it had held fast against the Grimm. Until now.

_'Be advised Saber Team, LZ is on approach. Looks nice and quiet.'_

Dmitry shouldered his T-40g assault rifle as the Chimera VTOL descended toward the Cliffside. A sturdy, worn, bullpup rifle, under-slung smart-grenade launcher, digital-camo plates adapting to the drab grays and faded greens of the Northern Urals. He was the first out of the craft, followed by the rest of his team.

Captain Korva, leader of Saber Team, was the next off. She nodded to him as she hit the ground, reassuring the most novice of their group behind her face mask and visor. Crimson hair that would have been waving in the winds were it not tied into a bun was the only color in her otherwise washed-out attire. Dmitry felt rather boring in that instance, his own bland, brown shade making him seem quite dull.

"Make way, D," warned a voice from behind that he recognized as Jay's.

The mountain of a woman came thundering down, landing with a heavy thump. Unlike the Captain, her hair was buzzed short. One could mistake the jet fuzz atop her head for a shadow against her already dark skin. Jay was foreign to Russia –American, and acted like it. It was an increasingly common thing amongst the Rangers since their partial merging with the UNDF.

She, however, was not the only stranger to Russia in Saber.

"Pilot can't wait forever, Malik," Jay called over her shoulder.

Behind her, a short man –and not just compared to the six foot and change, Jay- hopped down, un-holstering a compact SMG. Dmitry had never met someone as technically smart as Malik. He was a small, composed man, hailing from Syria originally, but apparently moved to the UK at some point before eventually making his way to the Rangers. He acted as the mind of Saber. The tuft of hair that comprised his pony-tail waggled in the Ural winds, reminding Dmitry of an over-excited lap-dog.

"Chilly," he commented, adjusting his brown long-coat, one that was identically worn by the rest of Saber.

The coats were a Ranger tradition from long before Dmitry had even been born. It reminded them of their roots in the wilds after the Grimm appeared, their battles on the front, and in the untamed no-mans-land, hunting the creatures of darkness where no military was willing or able to follow. All the more important after officially deferring to the command of the UNDF two decades prior. The coats kept them true; they worked with the UNDF by they were not them, they were Rangers. Before anything else, they were Rangers.

The coat reflected the Ranger. Dmitry's was slightly frayed on the sleeves and shoulders, but was mostly pristine, and was only decorated with a few tally marks down his right sleeve. This was in stark contrast to the Captains coat, which was torn, ripped, and riddled with marks and imperfections. There were many patches along her upper sleeves, and a pair of drawn on wings adorning the backs of each shoulder.

Jay had a large bulls-eye painted onto her back, which Dmitry had found interesting, and a little morbidly funny. A New York Giants patch was sewn into her right shoulder, bearing the number fourteen. Malik had the Syrian, British, and Russian flags patched onto his left sleeve, and the name 'Inaya' down his right. Dmitry would be lying if he said he was not curious about his teammate's choices, but in his opinion one didn't just ask those sorts of things.

The decorations were sacred additions. They told the story of the Ranger, told who they were. Rangers took extreme care in choosing how to adorn their coats, and cherished every new tear and mar as a trophy of survival. A Ranger wasn't truly a Ranger until their coats were torn, that was the old belief anyway. Since the UNDF came into the picture, they had politely asked Rangers to not purposefully throw themselves at more danger than necessary, but when battle was on, few listened. Dmitry had been a Ranger for little over half a year, still awaiting his first tear. Still waiting to prove himself.

"Stay focused, Saber," said Korva, sternly, but not harshly.

She turned to Dmitry.

"Take point, Lieutenant."

Dmitry nodded, jogging forward, already analyzing the mountain path, searching for the best route down.

Saber's objected in the Ural was still yet off in the distance, and a few hundred feet down in his visor's way-point was accurate. Intel from high altitude fly-by's indicated the Grimm had already penetrated this deeply past the wall, and were in high density around the communications facility. The facility's function under normal circumstances, was to track a two-hundred fifty kilometer section of the wall, monitor its structural integrity, its power consumption, and other factors. It should have alerted UNDCOM and the nearest UNDF garrison of the breach in the wall as soon as it had occurred, and called a Black alert.

It did not.

Instead, the Black alert was called some hours later, when the Grimm began pouring into Kotova, one of the cities that sprang up during the construction of the Ural wall. The UNDF responded appropriately, but that wasn't Saber's concern at the moment. Their objective was to investigate what had caused the comm. failure, and more importantly, how the Grimm had breached the wall. The aerial scouting had noted heavy structural damage to the facility, lots of thermal and radiological readings, and several casualties. Other than that, however, they'd need eyes on the inside to learn more.

Dmitry eased down another slope, coming to a shattered section of the path he'd been following. There was enough room left to sidle by on, though it would be precarious. Dmitry decided to give it a shot, and let his rifle hang by its strap as he used both his arms to balance himself as he slowly edged his way across. Nerve-wracking, but doable, he leapt that last foot or so over, and sat tight, waiting for the rest of Saber.

The Captain was the first he saw, closely followed by Jay and Malik.

"Well ain't that peachy," grunted Jay, looking at the lack of path.

Dmitry nodded toward the small outcropping of rock he'd used to cross. The team looked skeptical, but Captain Korva gave him the benefit of the doubt and followed his advice. The other two followed suit.

About halfway, Dmitry heard a blood-chilling caw, and dropped to a kneeling position, shouldering his rifle again, scanning for threats. The call echoed across the mountains.

"Hold," hissed Korva.

Not a second later, a Blackbird soared over them, crashing down upon the rock face, talons rending the mountain stone above them. The shock nearly sent the three of them tumbling over, but Korva and Jay caught their balance. Malik, though, lost his footing.

Jay's hand was there in an instant, grasping his. His weight added to hers, she knew she would never maintain her balance. Instead, she beat gravity to the punch and slid off on her own, catching herself with her free hand on the outcrop, her great strength holding both her and Malik over the otherwise very long way down.

After that, the three went still as statues, praying the Blackbird hadn't heard their commotion. Dmitry shuffled closer to the edge of the cliff, trying to catch a glimpse.

The massive Grimm sat perched over the edge directly above, but made no indication it knew they were there. His gaze constantly shifting between the beast above and his team, he motioned for them to try and continue across. He kept his rifle trained on the bird, despite knowing logically it would do nothing. Blackbirds were impervious to most conventional small-arms fire. If it found them, they would be near helpless out in the open.

Jay, with only her one arm, managed to lift Malik to where he could grasp the outcropping on his own. Once she knew they were secure, Korva continued, leaping over much the same as Dmitry had done. She turned back to help Jay up over the edge, and Dmitry did the same for Malik. The four sat under the bird, watching their breaths and making a concerted effort to make no noise.

The Blackbird fluttered its feathers a few times, before emitting another ear-splitting caw and lifting off once more, flying out of sight.

Saber sighed in relief as it left.

"Good thing you're such a pipsqueak," jabbed Jay. "Man, fuckin Blackbirds. I can't believe they got this deep. When's the last time any Grimm's got this far into UNDF turf?"

"Never," replied Malik. "At least, not since the walls. We've never had a comms failure like this."

Jay re-adjusted her support rifle, a long, log-like piece of weaponry with twin drum ammo canisters, containing the heaviest armor-piercing firepower that could be fit into the chambers. The rocket-launcher strapped to her back rustled against her coat, and Dmitry passingly envied her endurance, wondered how she was able to carry so much gear.

"Think the Grimm figured out what they do? Found a way to get around them?"

"We won't find out sitting here," said Captain Korva. "We can theorize after we dust-off. Right now, we get our jobs done."

Saber nodded.

"Dmitry," she said. "Continue."

\------------------------------------------

As the leader of Team RWBY, Ruby consciously knew she had to keep a clear head in the field. She knew this, but knowing that didn't stop the worry and confusion for piling up in her mind. There were too many unanswered questions to be had in her situation, and Ruby hated to not know things. What's more, she had neither Blake, nor Yang since waking in the strange building she was, for now, calling a base of operations, not that there had been much operating. She, thankfully, had Weiss with her, but she was just as lost as Ruby, though she loathed to admit it.

They woke with a pounding in their heads, finding themselves laying in a crater that had decimated what had once looked like a sort of cafeteria. Whatever had happened to them, it had thrown them right through a large satellite dish, and two floors of reinforced concrete. They were unsure as to how they'd survived such an impact, or even what it was that had brought them there. Everything was such a blur; they remembered Beacon and their friends just fine, but the circumstances which led them away from them were mysteriously absent from both of their memories.

The building itself had been full of Grimm, once Ruby had managed to break down the sealed door on the first floor. There were human bodies messily strewn across the halls and rooms, along with a few Grimm corpses, but many more live ones. A battle had taken place right on top of them, and the defenders had clearly lost. The two Huntresses, not forgetting their duty, exterminated the infestation, driving off the pack of Beowolves that had besieged the facility. A Nevermore had screeched over as well, but left them be, which Ruby was thankful for. She did not feel like having to deal with the beast at the moment.

The young team leader stood in what she guessed as some sort of observation room. It had what would have probably been a nice view of the bridge outside, and the chasm it traversed, had it not been for the remains splattered across the scene. Ruby, not unaccustomed to death, had still never seen so many dead bodies in one place. It made her nauseous; it appeared that no-one had made it into the room she currently occupied, so she was alone, with only the few Beowolves she'd killed near the doorway to keep her company.

Weiss had insisted on investigating the rooms, to find a clue as to their whereabouts, she said. Ruby wasn't sure it would do any good, the entire building seemed without power.

When they'd first awoken, she'd assumed they were in one of the districts of Vale, but the presence of Grimm made that seem unlikely. Now, staring out into the vast mountain range which they had found themselves in, Ruby had to face the fact that she had no idea where they were. Remnant had many mountain ranges, only one of which she'd ever seen with her own eyes, and she was fairly certain this was not Mountain Glenn, so their location was up in the air. Her scroll could not find a signal, so she was unable to call for help, though she did activate her Global Dust Positioner, hoping the signal would be picked up by someone. She also had no idea what this facility was even for, though Weiss guessed from the large dish that it might be some sort of communications station. It was as good a guess as any.

Frankly, Ruby figured they had two options. One was to hold up in the facility –they'd found some stored food and water, so they could make it for a couple of days if they were smart about it. Rescue could come, but that was a maybe, not a certainty. The other was to stock up and head out, to try and figure out how far from Vale and Beacon they were, and how they could get back. That also presented issues, considering they, again, had absolutely no idea where they were, or how to determine that. There was, of course, also the Grimm to consider.

Personally, Ruby wanted to leave and try to link back up with Blake and Yang. Something told her they were out there somewhere too. Practically though, staying put was the safer option, even if she didn't like it. The facility, if nothing else, was a defensible position and a landmark, and if there was rescue coming, they would be easier to find if they stayed put.

The crimson Huntress sighed, setting Crescent Rose down on a nearby table, and leaned over the ledge next to the windows. The mountains were a captivating view an hour ago when she first saw them, but their stagnant nature and dull colors were growing old quickly.

Which made it all the easier to spot movement in the distance.

It had to make out at first, only gray and brown blotches against an otherwise unremarkable ridge, but soon she saw them moving down the cliff-side. Rappelling down it. People, actual humans, had arrived, and as they closed in from across the bridge, she saw they were armed. Military.

She thought maybe Atlesian soldiers at first, but no. They lacked the signature white that all Atlesian troops bore. They were browns and faded greens, with some gray mixed in. Long coats flapped in the wind, and black masks of plastic and metal obscured their faces, green-tinted visors covering their eyes. Their weapons were rustic and utilitarian, lacking any grace. She did not recognize them at all. They looked very intimidating upon closer inspection, and Ruby dropped low to avoid detection as she headed back through the disgusting hall to find Weiss.

"Weiss," she hissed. "Weiss!"

"I'm in here," she called, her voice echoing out from a room to Ruby's right.

The room labelled "Dish Control" was a mess of spilled papers and overturned chairs. Weiss was flipping through some of the folders lying on the desks, illuminating her search with a flashlight (thank you, pocketed combat skirts!). Her half-silhouetted face turned to her leader for a moment before returning to her investigation.

"What is it?"

"People," she said. "Soldiers, I think, I'm not sure. They don't look like any I've ever seen. They're heading here, fast too."

Weiss stood up from her desk.

"Drat," she muttered. "Well, we don't know why they're here. They might be friendly, they may be hostile. Let's stay out of sight for now, and we'll figure out what to do once we have a better idea of who they are."

Ruby nodded. "Sounds like a plan. We can probably hide on those lights up there."

She motioned to the inoperable lights above them. Weiss inspected them with her flashlight; they were thin, narrow things, but were supported by metal beams. They hung low enough that if they crouched, they could fit comfortably enough.

"They look like they could support one of us each," Ruby continued. "Nobody ever looks up."

"Not a bad idea," Weiss agreed.

Ruby basked in pride of her cleverness for all but a split-second before it was ruined by one embarrassing oversight.

"Oh no, I forgot Crescent Rose in the lounge," she whined. "I have to go get her!"

"Ruby, wai- ugh."

She was already gone.

Ruby hopped over her slain foes that impeded her progress through the lounge door, seeing her mechanical companion resting where she'd left it, on the table. She rushed to it, hugging it tightly.

"I'm so sorry, baby. I'll never leave you again," she cooed.

Slipping it back behind her waist, she jogged back to the door, hearing the soft murmur of voices down the hall. She stopped short of the doorframe and poked her head out. The masked invaders were on the second floor already! Two of them strode down the hall, one turning into the room Weiss was hiding in, the other coming straight for her.

She needed to hide. The lounge was not as convenient a place for stealth as the Dish Control room. Smaller, more light, and in her desperation she jumped up into the corner of the ceiling next to the door, and held herself in place with the help of her aura. With any luck, he would pass her by, and she could sneak out undetected.

Ruby held her breath as the newcomer stepped inside.

\------------------------------------------

The communications facility's bridge, reaching across the large chasm between the security gate and the sole road leading up from below the base of the mountain, was thankfully still intact. Saber team was now only maybe two hundred feet up, and directly above the road across from the bridge, and overlooked the stretch of open land that they would have to cross. Because of their approach, they knew at least one Blackbird was flying about, and if it circled back, they'd be spotted in no time flat.

Dmitry could see from their vantage point on a ridge just over the road that there were several dead Grimm along the bridge and in the facility's court proper. There were just as many slain security personnel and maintenance workers, some still inside demolished vehicles. The damage to the communications array was also clearly visible. There was a gaping hole blown right through it, still smoldering. From the smoke rising, it appeared that whatever had hit it, had also pierced the facility. All in all, it had been quite a battle from the looks of it, but the stillness of the scene gave the impression that there was no life left to be found.

"I don't get it," said Jay. "Just two hours ago this place was crawling, now nothing. They couldn't have killed them all."

None of Saber replied. Dmitry kept on surveying the bridge, while Malik and the Captain focused on a small device that Malik had inserted in his wrist-mounted mini-computer. Not much larger than a smart-phone but with the computing power of a high-end desktop, it even had multiple USB and SD ports for system interfacing and data retrieval.

Currently, he was examining a motion tracker, trying to determine if it was safe to make the run.

"Anything?" asked Korva.

Malik shook his head.

"Nothing moving with significant mass. At least, not within a click of here; of course, these facilities are usually resistant to this kind of tech, so who knows what might actually be in there. As for the approach, I'd say we're as clear as we're going to be," he concluded.

"Alright, Malik, you and I will rappel down first. Jay, Dmitry, you both will cover us. When we reach the bottom, follow us down, we'll return the favor."

"Got it," replied Jay. Dmitry nodded.

Korva and Malik secured their hooks and attached their lines before rhythmically dropping down the cliff-side. While they descended, Jay took watch of the sky, while Dmitry kept on scanning the bridge.

"Weird how quiet it is," commended Jay. "Think this could be a trap? Grimm can get pretty crafty."

Dmitry shrugged, causing her to sigh.

"D, you have got to stop with the silent protagonist bullshit sooner or later, it's super creepy."

He looked over from his intense surveying for a fraction of a second. Two beeps came over the short-range comms.

"Thanks our cue," Jay said.

The two Rangers hooked themselves in, Dmitry fighting the urge to look down. The day seemed to be reveling in taking him out of his comfort zone. He shook his head, cleared his mind. Just focus on the mission, he told himself.

He hit the ground with a reassuring crunch, black-top and gravel beneath his feet as he contacted the first man-made surface since exiting the tilt-rotor. Sweet, solid ground.

"Dmitry," said the Captain. "Front and center. Malik, we watch the flanks for that Blackbird, Jay has our six. We make for the collapse in the forward wall."

They wordlessly came together in formation, Dmitry leading the advance. There was a nice, Gimm-sized piece of the wall near the main entrance missing that would afford them easy access.

There were roars in the distance, echoing up to the bridge, but no movement in their vicinity. The tracker had been honest, thus far. Dmitry pushed non-imminent threats out of his mind; his concern was in front of him. However, his mind did wander to the damage to the array. It was peculiar, not anything he'd ever seen a Grimm do, and it had been there even during the fly-bys. Whatever it was, it had happened either before, or right as the breach occurred. The convenience of the timing and location didn't sit well with him, and he felt the rest of Saber come to similar conclusions, even if none of them voiced it, though Jay seemed like she wanted to.

Rangers didn't believe in coincidences, though this was one time where Dmitry hoped the Rangers were wrong. The alternative implications were not pleasant topics of speculation.

The four scurried quickly through the remains of the battle. The lack of Grimm was both suspicious and concerning, and the prospect of facing them in close quarters was unappealing, but Dmitry still couldn't shake the shiver of the stillness around him. He felt as though they were being watched, and while he didn't feel a sense of danger, it did feel scrutinizing.

Upon reaching the collapsed wall, Dmitry and Malik took to inspecting the interior, cautiously moving through the rubble, weapons raised. The power seemed to be out, even the emergency lighting was inoperable. Dmitry quickly tapped his visor, sending it into IR mode. The Captain and Jay did as well, as they followed in.

They made a quick sweep, checked if anyone had survived -they hadn't— and moved on. The collapse had led them into a security checkpoint, nothing more than a greeting area. The only other door had been smashed open, leading to a hallway. Several more corpses from both sides littered the walkway, forcing the team to take pains to step around them.

The first floor was nothing particularly important, Dmitry noted, as he read off the door labels in his head. Just a lounge, some equipment lockers, a maintenance room. Only the security room was of any note, though the Captain guessed what they were really after was on the second floor. Stairs lay at the end of the hallway.

A few more Grimm impeded their progress up the flight, and a make-shift barricade blocked off the top, manned by two more fallen guards. It was easy enough to hop over. The door at the top was also smashed off its hinges.

The second floor's hallways was much the same as the first, but held more of what they were after. The Operations Room, Dish Control, and the server room all comprised the second story, with a small observation room at the end of the hall, overlooking the bridge and courtyard.

The doors to the server room were locked, like the door to the mess. Also like the mess door, the server room doors were also warped outward, like they had sustained a mighty blow. Glancing through the window, Malik informed them that the impact of whatever had hit the Dish had crashed straight through the servers, and down into the lounge.

They were picking up residual radiological readings, like the ones the scout drone had picked up, only faded. Malik said it was unreal, that the radiation they had observed shouldn't have dissipated so quickly. It was just more unexplained strangeness to an already confusing scene.

There was no getting into the server room, not that it would have done them much good in its state. Instead, they focused on the rooms they could get to. Malik took Ops, to try and interface with their systems and get to their data logs, hoping they had readings on the wall when the breach occurred. The Captain would inspect dish-control, perhaps to get a better idea of what had damaged it. Jay headed back downstairs to try and recover any relevant security footage she could find. Dmitry would sweep through the observation lounge, just to make sure the whole building was clear, and keep lookout for any Grimm, their Blackbird friend in particular.

Each with their own jobs, the four split up. Dmitry trekked down the long hallways, stepping around Grimm and human carcasses, boots crunching against shell-casings. The Ranger was thankful for the built-in air-filters his mask afforded him; he was sure without them, the air would smell smoky and uncomfortably damp. From what little of his skin that was exposed, he could feel that it was hot, though that was probably due just as much to the mysteriously fading radiation as the residual gunfire and cooling bodies.

The lounge door was loose on its hinges, but open. Sunlight poured in from the many wide windows, giving the room enough natural lighting that the IR filter on his visor was not needed. A quick tap returned him to the familiar spectrum of visible light.

There were only the fast fading bodies of Grimm in the lounge, no humans. Other than the slain monstrosities, it would have been a fairly normal lounge. Couches and tables, though mostly overturned, seemed in good condition, and there was a lack of structural damage that had been so consistent in the rest of the facility.

It was as if the battle had ceased just a few feet beyond the door.

Dmitry walked further into the room, listening carefully for any sign of movement. The whole lounge was permeated with the same calm but eerie stillness as everywhere else, like he was walking inside some carefully constructed model. Everything seemed motionless and empty, the lounge included, but still he felt as though there were prying eyes upon him. Closer than before. He tried to play it off as nerves, glancing out the windows, down at the bridge.

Nothing, except the wind.

No Grimm in sight was usually a cause for celebration, but it only served to put Dmitry on edge. Something was not right. There was something critical they were missing.

In that moment, Dmitry became aware of a rustling behind him. It sounded like fabric. He turned, rifle half-raised, only to find empty air. Looking side to side, he still found nothing of note. His imagination?

He turned back around to the windows, feeling as though he'd just missed something pass him by as he did so. He looked around again, but still nothing. Dmitry scratched the back of his head, and in looking down to do so, glimpsed something that had not been there before.

The Ranger knelt down and pinched the sudden source of color between his fingers. A flower petal? Red, like a rose, but no roses grew in the region, and the lounge was without floral decor.

Which meant there was someone, or something, with him.

\-----------------------------------------

As soon as the long-coated stranger came to a half in front of the windows, Ruby dropped down as quietly as possible. Apparently, it wasn't quietly enough, or the soldier just had incredibly good ears, because he twitched as she descended.

Thinking quickly, she activated her semblance, whizzing behind him as he turned around. His weapon was nearly at the ready, though she could hardly blame him. This place was spooky, and mysterious noises would put her on edge too. He took a few looks around before decided it was nothing. Ruby realized he was preparing to turn back around, so she repeated her previous tactic, and whirled around him, just out of his view.

She came to a stop behind him, back near the door, avoiding nearly tripping over the Beowolf corpses. Ruby steadied herself and sighed a silent sigh of relief, looking back at the soldier to make sure she hadn't been seen or heard.

While she herself had been undetected, she had been careless with her semblance, and left behind one of the tiny aura petals that was so common a byproduct of its use. The stranger had knelt over and was inspecting it curiously, and for a moment she was convinced she was busted, and cringed.

Her cringing was intensified by a sudden ear-rending bird-like screech. Both she and the soldier's heads swiveled to the window. Ruby couldn't see anything, but knew the call.

The soldier suddenly dove to the side, and she put two-and-two together, realizing what must have been coming next. Her heroic instincts took over, not willing to put stealth over wellbeing of another human being, and kicked her semblance back in, moving across the room in a split-second, dragging the man far-clear of the volley.

As they tumbled over to the far wall, she was glad she'd done so. The feathers had punched right through the glass and ceiling; the poor guy would have been a pin-cushion.

Once they'd rolled to a stop, Ruby looked up, coming face to mask with her fellow-in-distress. All she could really think to do, was look on, and thought to herself, 'Weiss probably won't like this.'

\-----------------------------------------

Dmitry looked up from his inspection of the red petal at the sound of a familiar screech, only to be greeted by a fast approaching flurry of piercing feathers. He threw himself into a roll, but inwardly cursed, knowing it probably wouldn't be enough to get clear. The feathers could easily penetrate the thin metal and concrete of the building, to say nothing of the glass.

Suddenly Dmitry jerked further than his understanding of physics should have allowed, given the force and direction he'd put into his leap. That being said, he wasn't complaining. Whatever had happened had knocked him clear of the feathers, which impaled his former general vicinity not a second later.

Quick to regain his bearings, Dmitry looked up to find a young girl slumped clumsily over him. She was a small, pale thing, right down to her eyes, but she was colorfully decked in a frilly, red trimmed black dress and corset. Her hair matched her scheme. She looked up at him shyly with a hint of apology, but mostly concern.

Dmitry, who was too dumbfounded for words, even if he'd wanted to speak any, just gave a thumbs up to indicate he was in one piece. She replied with a smile, before rolling off him and un-holstering maybe the largest, most unwieldy rifle Dmitry had ever seen. It gave Jay's LMG a run for its money, and it only looked more massive when put against the perspective of such a tiny looking girl.

She rushed to the edge of the windows, propping it up for balance, and began firing with impressive speed for a bolt-action weapon. Dmitry could see, getting to his feet, that the Blackbird seemed more affected by her ammunition than any Saber had on hand, perhaps the exception, again, being Jay's armament. He passingly wondered how much recoil such a weapon had, and how such a frail looking thing could bear it. These thoughts were banished, as his Ranger thought process took control once more.

He pressed into his ear-piece three times in rapid succession, sending the shrill noises over the team-wide channel, warning them of the danger. The signal sent, he rushed over to tap the girl's shoulder, gaining her attention and motioning for her to follow him further into the facility. She gave the Blackbird one last glance, and then bolted behind him.

Captain Korva and Malik exited into the hallway as they did. The Captain's eyes went straight to the mystery girl, almost raising her rifle before noticing her subordinate's unguarded demeanor, and gave Dmitry a questioning look instead. Malik joined them a few seconds later, doing much the same.

"Dmitry, who…," he trailed off. "What?"

Dmitry looked at Ruby, then shrugged.

"Dmitry…who is this?" asked the Captain, unsure of just what she was seeing. Why was there a girl in a damn tutu running around a UNDF communications facility in the middle of a Level Black alert?

"Ruby Rose," the girl spoke for the first time.

The Captain and Malik both turned to her simultaneously, suddenly giving her the feeling of intense judgment.

"Uh…my name. It's Ruby Rose."

"Ruby Rose," repeated Korva. "And just what are you doing here, Ruby Rose?"

"Would you take 'I don't know' as an answer?"

Their silence gave her the impression that they would not. At least, it wasn't the one they wanted to hear.

"I don't even know where here is," she insisted. "Honest!"

They still didn't seem to believe her, but Korva's next words seemed to indicate she'd leave it alone for the moment, and turn to more important matters.

"Dmitry, what did you spot?"

"Nevermore," spoke up Ruby again.

"A what?" asked Malik.

"A Nevermore?" she repeated incredulously. "You know, giant Grimm, flies around? It's making a lot of noise out there, I think it might be calling for more."

The Captain cursed under her breath. "Blackbird."

"Alright," said Malik. "Well you have fun with your schoolgirl, Dmitry. I'm going to get back to Ops and get things done so we can leave and not die."

The short Ranger sped off back down the hallway, leaving Ruby with only Dmitry and Captain Korva. The superior officer was giving him a hard look under her mask, he could feel it.

"Are you alone, Ruby Rose?" she asked, turning to look at the small girl.

Ruby hesitated. Weiss was right in the next room, but should she say anything? She was still unsure of who these people were, or why they were here, or where they were from. Still, looking up to Dmitry, she got the sense that he was a decent person. Quiet, but decent. They also seemed to be at least partially concerned for her safety, though clearly not happy that she was there.

For now they had a common enemy; they wanted the Grimm gone and so did she. Maybe if she and Weiss helped, they'd be inclined to help them in return; to help them find their way out of the mountains, or better yet, to help them find Blake and Yang. It seemed the best option to cooperate with them.

"No, there's one other person. She's hiding, but I can get her."

Ruby, once again, got the sense that it was not the answer the Captain wanted to hear, as she sighed heavily. She didn't seem outright angry, and was overall tolerating the unexpected developments, and that was a good sign in Ruby's book.

Finally, the Captain spoke again. "Dmitry, do you think you can handle this teenage girl while I round up Jay, and we figure out what to do about all this?"

Dmitry simply put a hand on the girl's shoulder, gave a thumbs up, and then jabbed it lightly towards himself.

"Good," she said tiredly. "Get her squared away, then go meet Malik in Ops."

The Captain turned and sprinted down the hall, towards the stairs. Dmitry turned back to Ruby, who grabbed him by the sleeve of his coat and pulled him along into the dish-control room. The Ranger followed, not wanting to lose track of her.

"Weiss," she called into the room. "You can come out, they're okay."

There was a faint echo of a huff, and suddenly a girl in a white dress, similar to little red's, but more angular, and complimented by an equally white jacket, leapt down from the ceiling lights, which were relatively low hanging, long sockets, held by pairs of thin beams. They did make for effective hiding-spots, he noted.

Her long, also snow-white hair, whipped in the motion. It hung loosely in an elaborate pony-tail, tied to the right side. The asymmetry of it had its own sort of grace that Dmitry felt hard-pressed to describe, even to himself. She seemed to exude the very essence of ice, right down to a pale complexion, even more so than Ruby's. Her pale-blue eyes seemed the only color she would permit, and even it gave the cold, rigid sensation of winter.

She was definitely older than Ruby, though younger than him, but not by much. Two years, three perhaps?

"Ruby, we agreed that we'd stay out of sight, not socialize."

"I know, but a Nevermore showed up, and it was kind of my fault Dmitry almost got hurt. Plus, he seems nice," she explained, and looked up at him. "Right, Dmitry?"

Dmitry shrugged, and waved his hand in a so-so gesture. Little red, no, Ruby –he made a mental note, Ruby and Weiss were their names- snickered.

"If you're quite done," she chided.

"If it's calling for more Grimm, we should deal with it. I'd rather not attract even more unwanted attention today," she said, narrowing her gaze at Dmitry.

Dmitry tapped Ruby's rifle, then pointed to Weiss questioningly.

"If you're concerned as to whether I'm armed," she said, drawing a rapier of all things. "I'm perfectly capable of defending myself. As Huntresses, killing Grimm is something of a regularity for us."

Dmitry would have argued that no-one hunted Grimm for sport, nor had he ever seen anyone go out hunting in frilly dresses, but those were arguments for another time, and for someone more vocally inclined. Now, he needed to join Saber. Ruby seemed at least somewhat well equipped to tackle the threat, having a powerful fire-arm. Weiss' choice of weapon was concerning, as well as confusing, but she seemed totally confident, and if they'd killed Grimm, he supposed they could look after themselves at least.

The Ranger shrugged again, and nodded toward the door. The two girls followed him out into the hall and down to the opposite end, into Ops. Malik was seated at a command station near the front of the room, back turned to them, frantically working against the soft glow of a computer monitor. He had a micro-fusion cell hooked up to the terminal, providing limited power to the surrounding equipment.

He looked over his shoulder, then did a double take as they approached.

"It's been like _two minutes_ ," he exclaimed. "You found _another one_?"

"Another what?" asked Jay from the hall.

Dmitry turned to see her and the Captain rounding through the threshold. Jay stopped and gave Ruby and Weiss an odd look.

"Can someone explain the cheerleaders?" interjected Jay.

Weiss folded her hands and scoffed.

"Excuse me, we are not cheerleaders. We're huntresses, and we expect to be treated as such," she said in a huff.

"Sure sound like cheerleaders," she muttered to herself.

"Enough," said Korva sternly, drawing everyone's attention to her. "Malik, situation."

"I've got a compiler running," he explained. "Finding the data wasn't hard, we're just nabbing the last twenty-four hours of it to be sure. Problem is, lots of it's scrambled to hell and I'm trying to piece it all together as I go. I'm guessing it was a system-wide power-surge. Should take a couple more minutes still with an auto-compiler running."

Korva turned to Jay, indicating it was her turn to share. She shook her head.

"Security system was out. I'd have suggested bringing the fusion cell down there to try and nab some of the footage if we had time, but I don't think we have the luxury anymore."

Their leader nodded. "And we already know what Dmitry has contributed to the mission. Now the problem remains: what to do about the Blackbird? We can't hole up in here forever, and it's only a matter of time before more Grimm converge on us."

Jay gestured to the rocket-launcher strapped to her back.

"I got three shells for this puppy, plus my LM-19's packin' AP rounds, but we'll be fresh outta ordinance taking that sucker down, and that's if they all connect. Those bastards are fast."

"Ruby," spoke up Weiss. "Didn't you outfit Crescent Rose with some higher-impact rounds before we got caught up in all this?"

"Excuse me?" interrupted the Captain.

Ruby drew her monstrous red rifle. A scope, grip and stock ping out from the mechanical beast, and she shouldered the weapon like a trained sniper.

"Yup," she said sweetly. Jay gave a whistle as she eyed the weapon.

"Red Riding-hood sure came expecting the wolf," she laughed. "Can you even use that thing?"

Dmitry came to her defense, patting the rifle in her hands and giving Jay the OK signal. He then imitated the Blackbird with his hands and pantomimed Ruby firing her rifle, with a little 'pow' sound effect. It was the first sound any of them had ever heard him make, and it would have been funny had the situation not been so dire.

"A ringing endorsement if I've ever heard one," joked Jay."

Weiss was seething at her mocking. "This place was swarming with Grimm not two hours ago. I didn't see any of _you_ around to clean up the mess. It fell to us."

" _You_ killed them?" questioned Malik, breaking from his work at the terminal to shoot them a glance.

"Most of them," she replied.

Jay scoffed and muttered, "Yeah, right."

The Captain shut her down. "They're no older than many who chose the path of the Ranger, and they are armed. Strange as all this is, if there's one thing we know better than any, it's that age is no determinate factor."

It was the truth, and they all knew it. The only real requirement to apply to the Rangers was to be sixteen years of age, and to be sound of body and mind. Everything else was sorted out later during initiation, which had some…higher standards. Regardless, it was not unheard of, or uncommon, for teenagers to be accepted for Ranger training. Dmitry himself had taken the challenge at sixteen. The old order had been built on the young, and in many ways it still was. The only thing that mattered was your ability to survive; race, sex, gender, creed, and age were all irrelevant.

Ruby and Weiss weren't Rangers, but if they wanted to live, they were going to have to be.

"I can kill it," said Ruby.

"I appreciate the enthusiasm, but don't get ahead of yourself," warned the Captain.

Ruby shook her head.

"No, I mean I know I can. I've killed a Nevermore before."

"It's true," chimed in Weiss. "I was there. Also I would appreciate some of the credit, seeing as I helped."

"How did you kill it?" Korva asked.

Ruby twisted Crescent Rose in her hands, and the mechanism folded out further, transforming in an instant into a massive scythe, twice her size. She slammed the blade to the floor, supporting the shaft against her shoulders.

Malik nearly fell out of his chair, cursing in Arabic.

"Sweet baby Jesus," murmured Jay.

"Yeah," replied Ruby sheepishly. "I went a little nuts designing it, but Crescent Rose here helped me kill the first Nevermore. I sliced its head off."

Jay shook her head in disbelief. "You know what? Fuck it, I have to see this. Captain, permission to help the cheerleader decapitate the giant monster?"

Malik rolled back around in his seat. "Okay, well since we've clearly dipped into the Twilight Zone, and nothing makes sense anymore, I might as well throw my own insane idea onto the table."

The Captain stepped over to the terminal, peeking past Malik's shoulder.

"This station has a compliment of surveillance drones it uses to visually inspect the wall," he explained. "This terminal has remote-access to them; I can get a few of them running and get the Blackbird's attention, maybe get it chasing them."

Weiss popped back into the conversation. "Could you lead it somewhere specific?"

"Sure, I guess. Was there somewhere in particular you want it to go?"

"The bridge," replied Weiss. "Get it low over the bridge, and we'll take it from there."

Malik hesitantly looked to the Captain for some kind of approval, who looked at the two girls standing before her. She suddenly walked toward Ruby, never taking the blank green visors that seemed to be boring into her soul off of her. The short Huntress swallowed hard under the unblinking gaze.

"Say the words again, Ruby Rose," she said. "Say them to me. Can you kill that Blackbird?"

"Yes."

"Yes, what?" she insisted.

"Yes, I can kill it."

She turned her head to Weiss.

"Yes, I can kill it," she repeated.

Her gaze broke instantly, turning back to the seated Ranger.

"Malik," she said, the weight of her authority carried in the name alone.

There was no reply, only an acknowledgement of her command, and he set to work at the terminal. Korva marched past the others, waving them alone to follow her. The two remaining Rangers and the two Huntresses filed out, and headed down the stairs.

"I'm guessing you have a plan?" asked Ruby.

"It's simple," replied Weiss. "The Nevermore gets low as it approaches the bridge, I use one of my glyphs to launch you, you use those new rounds of yours and keep your momentum, and you should have sufficient velocity to clip its wing off. Gravity will do the rest of our work for us. The fall down will be more than enough to kill it."

"Uh-huh, and what about the part where I go flying off the edge?"

"As if I didn't think of that," she scoffed. "I'll have another glyph ready to catch you as you decelerate, don't worry. You can re-bound back to the bridge."

"Okay then," Ruby nodded. "Sounds good enough."

 _'Drones are coming online now,'_ said Malik over the radio.

"The drones are ready," informed the Captain to the Huntresses. "Be prepared for anything once we get out there."

The group was approaching the collapsed wall in the front that they had entered through. The five stopped, and the Rangers crept forward to survey the area. The courtyard and bridge, which had been quiet as a graveyard when they arrived, was now teeming with Direwolves and a few Grizzlies. They seemed, as of yet, unaware of their approach.

"Well shit," Jay cursed. "Guess the giant, evil chicken was calling for help."

The Captain came onto the radio. "Get the drones into the sky, Malik. We have some more company out here, we'll be clearing a path to the bridge. Keep the Blackbird occupied until I give the order."

_'Copy that.'_

Captain Korva turned to Ruby and Weiss. "Stay behind us, we'll cut through the Grimm for you and keep you covered while you deal with the Blackbird. I'll order Malik to begin his run when we get to the middle of the bridge."

The two girls nodded, and Korva nodded back.

"Jay," she said. "If you would."

"It would be my pleasure," she replied, hefting her LMG.

The thundering of the weapon shattered the quiet of the mountains. Jay steadily advanced forward, letting her rifle shred all that stepped to face her. Two Direwolves fell before the rest of the pack even realized they were under attack. Dmitry and Captain Korva followed her through the breach, Ruby and Weiss tagging behind a few feet away.

The Blackbird soared overhead at the sudden commotion, screeching its awful cry. A series of buzzes followed, and the two Huntresses looked up to see the drones, a half-dozen of them, scream by and begin to zoom around the Blackbird's head, causing it to break off from the ground engagement.

The skies above safe for a moment, the two girls returned their attention to the imminent threats ahead. Jay fired away with near reckless abandon, though there were no shortage of targets. Her LMG cut a blood swath onto the bridge –the sheer force and ferocity of her assault was too overwhelming to deny.

To her right flank, Captain Korva fired in controlled bursts of varying intensity, slaying her enemies with an instinctual intuition as to how to hit them, where, and how much. It was like watching an experience seamstress weave cloth, or an expert guitarist tune their instrument; she seemed to just feel the flow of battle, and act accordingly. Ruby swore none of the Grimm came within twenty feet of her.

On the other side, was Dmitry. Unlike the Captain, who was flowing and fluid in her movements, Dmitry was like a machine. No movement was wasted, no time set aside; he fired three rounds rapid, always hitting his opponents in their eye-sockets, or their exposed necks, or one-burst to a leg to disable, then another to the head to kill. He reloaded so quickly it was like he never stopped firing, and no round was spend on a shot that would not result, or at least contribute, to the death of his prey. Much like Ruby appreciated Korva's grace, Weiss had an appreciation for Dmitry's sterile and efficient approach to combat. There was no passion in it, only an acknowledgment of what had to be done.

The Direwolves, of which nearly twenty lay dead, began to back off from the Rangers, realizing their assault was for naught. Instead, the Grizzlies made their advance. Jay had little trouble slaying the first, though she found herself out of ammo afterwards, leaving her helpless to the next in the charge.

A loud crack exploded from behind her. Jay whipped around to see tiny Ruby, shouldering her Crescent Rose in rifle form, the barrel still smoking. The support gunner looked back at the Grimm, its boney head-plate was cracked open, chunks of whatever were inside Grimm heads painting the ground. Jay paid her a quick nod of thanks, as she scrambled to reload her weapon with a new drum.

Meanwhile, Dmitry made use of his secondary weapon, the thump of his launcher, and the hiss of the smart-grenades as they directed themselves toward the tagged Grizzlies sounding off in rhythm as his mechanical dexterity began replacing the spent explosive as soon as it was fired. He changed targets as soon as the projectile was free to pursue the last, knowing in full confidence that it was strike home.

By the time the five had reached the center of the bridge, the Rangers had a nice barricade of Grimm corpses from which to establish a line of defense.

"Malik, we're in position!" the Captain shouted over the comms.

 _'Roger that, I've got this thing eating out of the palm of my hand. Just make sure the cheerleaders are ready,'_ he replied.

The buzzing drones whipped overhead, followed faithfully by the screeching bird. Malik took it on a long turn down the chasm, being sure to give them plenty of time.

"Malik is starting his run," Korva shouted. "Whatever you two have planned, get ready! Rangers, keep the bridge!"

"Right!" acknowledged Weiss. "Ruby!"

"Already on it!" she replied over the roar of gunfire.

The red Huntress swing Crescent Rose around, barrel-end facing behind her, crouching low in anticipation of quick action. Weiss held forth Myrtenaster, feeling the familiar chill of her semblance rising forth. The Nevermore, or Blackbird as the Rangers insisted on calling it, was screaming toward them, the drones keeping pace ahead. They would be sweeping just over their heads, but this Malik seemed to have the presence of mind to keep the drones separated enough to not interfere with whatever plan they were going to enact.

Weiss eyeballed their approach, and counted down in her head for the right time. Just as the Nevermore was sweeping the lowest on it downward arc, Weiss twisted Myrtenaster, forming a white, snowflake shaped glyph in front of her, angled just slightly upward to give Ruby an angle to gain altitude.

"Now!" she cried.

Ruby leapt up and back, using her aura to reach the aerial glyph, felt the soles of her boots hit the deceptively solid arcane barrier, and no sooner did she make contact, did Weiss thrust Myrtenaster, rocketing the younger girl into the air. Crescent Rose's muzzle barked twice, increasing Ruby's velocity to speeds comparable to her own semblance, though she neglected to use it to further expedite her flight, in favor of maneuverability.

Right before impacting the Nevermore's right wing, she twisted in the air, pointing Crescent Rose to fire into her momentum, sending her into a wild spin. The girl was suddenly transformed into a crimson bladed blur, a human ban-saw. She felt the snap of bone under her scythe, and the red splatter of warm blood exploded in every direction as she fired Crescent Rose again to further the devastation of the blade's impact. The Nevermore cried out in pain, and began to dip, skimming right over the bridge, unable to do anything but flail as gravity's cruel will was done.

Ruby flipped Crescent Rose again, firing against her spin to re-orient herself. Weiss, true to her word, caught her partner with a second glyph as soon as she saw the girl's descent was under control. The scythe-wielder slammed into the platform with an echoing thud as her aura cushioned the landing to nothing more than if she'd leapt off her bunk-bed.

The burst of speed her semblance was more than enough to catapult her back toward the bridge, and for a handful of seconds, she had a nice view of the scene. Their new Ranger friends were holding the Grimm off well. In between bursts of fire, she could see Jay was, for lack of a better term, losing her goddamn mind over what she'd just witnessed, unable to contain her excitement. It was nice being appreciated, so the Huntress didn't see much harm in showing off a little more.

Her landing was complimented by Crescent Rose's blade slamming through the head of an Ursa Minor, killing the beast instantly. Ruby hefted the weapon free, sent herself flying with another shot from Crescent Rose, twirling the weapon above her, decapitating two pouncing Beowolves before bringing it to a stop through the gut of a third at the end of the swing.

Another Ursa Minor leapt in front of her as she freed her scythe, but it soon went limp as a streak of silver entered and exited the right eye of the beast in a fraction of a second. Ruby looked over to find Weiss at her side, the two now back-to-back, working in tandem, slaughtering any Grimm to get relatively near them.

The Rangers sat back, not even firing their weapons anymore, partially because they'd run dry on much of their ammunition, but mostly because there was not much point. The two teenagers had become a vortex of pure evisceration, and the Grimm seemed to have no chance. Dmitry had honestly never seen anyone fight so elegantly, so extravagantly, in his life.

Ruby's scythe never seemed to ever stop moving, always rotating in her hands or around her arms, shoulders, even her neck. It was brutal, but there was a poetry to the heavy, dismembering blows she delivered.

Weiss, on the flip-side of their coin, struck with the precision and speed of lightning, but always with a graceful, almost ethereal calmness. Her kills were quick, almost painless-looking in their rapidity. In a mass of shadow and blood, she was a beacon of white light, unmarred. Sharp, deadly, but strangely beautiful in her lethality and coldness.

Like snow, he thought. Like winter.

Suddenly, the two leapt away from their mound of unworthy dead, Ruby falling back to the Rangers, and Weiss keeping a few feet ahead. The white Huntress held forth her rapier once more, this time her colored chambers spinning within the sword's guard. It landed on red, and the blade of the rapier responded to the color in question, glowing with a scorching heat.

The remaining Grimm charged toward the quintet with unbridled ferocity despite their losses. Weiss, unafraid, thrust the sword into the bridge blade-first. In an instant, the ground in front of her was littered with blazing red glyphs. Pillars of flame erupted from below, searing the Grimm of their fur and flesh, stripping them of their muscles and bones, leaving nothing of the offending darkness. They were purged by her light.

It only lasted a scant few seconds, so intense were the flames. As they faded, the chasm fell quickly back into the natural quiet that had so gripped it when the Rangers had arrived. For a while no-one moved. The Rangers struggled to process everything they'd seen, Ruby was unsure as to whether to break the silence, and Weiss steadied herself against Myrtenaster, breathing heavily.

Jay was, unsurprisingly, the first one to speak.

"Captain, request someone punch me in the face so I know I'm not tripping balls, because that was the sickest shit I've ever seen in my life."

Ruby shyly grinned. No matter how much praise she received, she was always slightly humbled when accepting it. Dmitry gave her two thumbs up, nodding at her enthusiastically, which made her laugh sincerely. His silence so far had been funny and reassuringly confident at the same time, and strangely put her at ease.

The young Ranger noticed that Weiss had yet to move, and was still leaning against her sword. Wondering if perhaps she'd been wounded after all, he decided to check on her. He was no medic, but all Rangers were at least competent at field-care. All part of the training.

Dmitry tapped her shoulder lightly, announcing his presence. The girl flinched in surprise, but was too tired to do much else. She looked over her shoulder, and despite the mask obscuring his entire face, Weiss could sense concern.

"I'm okay," she replied curtly. "Using so many glyphs is a little draining, that's all. I'll be fine in a few minutes."

He nodded slowly in understanding. The two stood without talking for a moment until Dmitry stepped in front of her and pointed at her rapier, then gestured out at the now scorched bridge, his arms sweeping widely and grandly. He turned back to her and clapped his gloved hands together once, then pumped his fists excitedly.

Weiss fought against a grin. Dmitry seemed so strange; a coldly efficient warrior one minute, and now animated and exuberant, even in his blank silence.

"Good to know seeing a true Huntress in action was a satisfying experience."

He gave a quicker nod this time.

"Dmitry," called the Captain. Dmitry perked up at the mention of his name.

"Malik popped the beacon, he has the data. Dust-off in five. The cheer…," the Captain stopped herself and looked to Ruby, then to Weiss. "The Huntresses are coming along."

She moved to turn away, before looking back at him for a moment.

"Be a gentleman and help the lady along, would you? She looks exhausted," she suggested, heading back to the facility to meet with Malik.

"You don't ha-," Weiss was cut off as Dmitry, dutifully following his orders, plucked Weiss up without a break in his stride. For a girl strong enough to pierce a Grizzly skull with a rapier, she was shockingly light.

She hit him against the chest.

"Put me down, you moron!" she demanded.

He stopped and did so, allowing her to slide back onto her feet, which promptly wavered and caused her to fall backwards into Dmitry. He steadied her, but remained still.

She sighed in defeat, appreciating a lack of a 'see?' or an 'I told you so'.

"Fine."

Just as wordlessly as Dmitry approaching everything and everyone else, he lifted her back up, carrying her back towards the communications facility.

\-----------------------------------------

Dmitry still held her minutes later when the Chimera VTOL came thumping down. They had waited outside in the courtyard with Jay and Ruby, both of whom she was relatively sure were snickering together. Dmitry seemed unfazed by it, and while Weiss wanted to give them a tongue-lashing, she decided it could wait. She was feeling better, but the Ranger wasn't complaining, and she wasn't going to say no to not having to stand around.

Malik and the Captain exited the facility as the vehicle can down onto the bridge, Malik looking to Dmitry and quickly looking away. By the shaking of his shoulders, Weiss was certain he was laughing too. Again, Dmitry remained either unaware, or stoically immune to the jibe.

The Captain waved them along. The rotors of the VTOL sliced apart the mountain winds, drowning out all other sounds until they passed into the rear canopy of the craft. It was a spacious enough transport to move around ten people, so the addition of Weiss and Ruby was of no concern. Dmitry set the Huntress down in a seat near the middle of the bay, then took the seat across from her.

Captain Korva was the last one on-board, and hit the cockpit door twice before taking her seat, signaling they were ready for take-off. As they rose into the air, the Rangers began removing their masks, wanting to wipe the sweat from their brows and breathe the air freely, without an apparatus.

Ruby noted that while the age on Captain Korva's face was apparent, wrinkles forming under her eyes and the creases around her mouth deep, she swore that she was simply looking at an older Pyrrha Nikos. If the hair were just undone, and if the three facial scars, running parallel to one another up from the left of her chin, across her lips, and just barely around her eye, had not been there, she'd have been a dead-ringer for an aged Mistral Tournament Champion.

Next to her, Malik scratched at the black stubble forming around his chin and cheeks, muttering something about his beard and weeds. His hair fell over his forehead in short, curly bunches, though most of it was held back in a pony-tail. His complexion was darker than the Captain's, and his nose sharper and longer than hers, though not as wide. He was significantly younger, but quite clearly her and Weiss' elder.

"That's why I just lop all mine off," said Jay, responding to the comment of Malik's that Ruby had missed.

Jay's head was mostly devoid of hair, and her complexion even darker than Malik's, reminding her of Fox from team CFVY in that regard. Her face was hard and defined, a strong jaw with angular features and high cheekbones. Combined with her height, and obvious physical strength, she looked to be carved right out of the mountains they'd fought on. Ruby guessed she was about the same age as Malik, though these were just that, guesses.

Meanwhile, Weiss unconsciously stared straight ahead as the mask fell from Dmitry's face. He took a deep breath as the straps binding it to his face came undone, opening his blue eyes wide. The Ranger was easily the youngest of the four, Weiss swearing he was barely older than her. His face was soft, with a round-tipped nose, prominent dimples, and a light, pale complexion; hardly the face she imagined would be attached to the soldier methodically swatting aside Grimm only minutes before, though as she remembered his silent antics before and after, suddenly it seemed to suit him. His hair was short, and a drab brown color, messily falling in wild strands around his head, which he swiped a hand through, hoping perhaps to sweep it back, but it refused and fell back into its disordered formation.

He questioningly raised his eyebrows at her, and for the first time realized she was staring straight at him. She averted her eyes immediately.

"Your hair is a mess," she commented.

Dmitry put another hand through it to no avail, to which he shrugged apologetically.

"It's not the end of the world, moron. Don't worry about it," she said, not battling against the faint grin this time.

"Where are we headed exactly?" asked Ruby, directed at Captain Korva.

"To Kotova, Field Master Zhukov is there, as well as Major General Duff," she replied. "We're to report our findings at the communications facility to them, which includes the data and you two. I'm sure they'll want to hear about how you came to be there, and your…whatever it was you did to that Blackbird. Before you ask, no, you're not being taken prisoner. I doubt we'd be able to hold you even if you were. We just want to figure out what happened there."

Ruby nodded slowly. "We'll help, but we need help too. I'd like to figure out what's going on too, and there are two more of my team, I think they're here. I need to find them, and something tells me we're pretty far from home."

The Captain smiled, a smile Dmitry had never seen from her before. It was almost motherly.

"I don't know what I can promise, but I'll do all I can."

Ruby nodded. Under the circumstances it could have been worse.

"Thank you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not generally a fan of Author's Notes, so this will ideally be the only one I do, barring any significant retro-active editing notifications or the like. In short, I'd like this story to be the best in can be, provided people find it interesting, so I heavily encourage anyone who has read this to notify me of any errors, inconsistencies, or general shortcomings you find, or feel you've found, or share with me any suggestions you might have. As I said, I'm prepared to go back and edit these chapters if the need arises.
> 
> If you have any questions or comments that you don't, for whatever reason, feel comfortable putting in the comments below, feel free to message me on my tumblr, which you can find easily enough, same username (I have the url text to my ask-box on my profile, though I'll try to make it an actual link in the near future). I'll actually probably be more likely to see comments there, or at least see them sooner, though rest assured, I will read anything sent to me here with equal consideration.
> 
> I have no defined upload schedule, so if you particularly enjoyed this, then I would suggest following it, or me. If I have my way, all chapters will be around the same general length (though pacing may dictate otherwise), so they will most likely take some time to write. This is very much a personal vanity project, so it will be put on the back-burner in the event that life happens, but at the moment I foresee no problems.
> 
> That's really all I have to say, so thank you for reading.


	2. Chapter 2: With All Due Respect

_"Why is it whenever someone says "with_  
all due respect", they really mean "kiss  
my ass"? 

_–Ashley Williams, Mass Effect 1_

**Chapter 2: With All Due Respect**

Kotova was a mess, but a mess that rested firmly in UNDF hands. Their South-Eastward approach from the mountains was met with an escort three kilometers outside the city perimeter. Most of the trip had been spent with the rear-hatch locked up tight, but their approach to UNDF temporary headquarters afforded them their first view of the city. Much of the skyline was shrouded in smoke, and the flicker of sparks that could be called fires danced far below them. Cars were abandoned in the street, which left the major roadways clogged, and forced the troops to either work their way around, or plow the vehicles out of the way to reach their destinations. The military had yet to mop up all the Grimm within the city-limits, but the air-space was secured.

There were still echoes of explosions from shells or missiles that resounded somewhere off in the indeterminable distance as the Chimera came in for a landing atop one of the taller buildings on the Kotova skyline. Saber Team, as well as their new-found compatriots, were for the moment, out of harm's way. They each of them knew that would not last.

A soldier rushed to meet the departing Rangers and their guests. He was not at all like Saber Team, Ruby and Weiss noted. He lacked their coats, obviously, and his gear was far more bulky; more pads and semi-metallic plates –which were all a real-time, digitally generated mesh of grays and light blues- covered his torso and limbs than the Rangers, who were sleek and nimble looking in comparison. His helmet and visor covered his head and eyes, but his lower face was visible.

"Captain, ma'am," he snapped with a rigid discipline. "This way, the Major General is waiting for you downstairs."

"Thank you, Corporal," replied Korva with the same military-brand courtesy. The Captain tagged behind their one man welcome-wagon, and the rest followed closely behind as they descended the rooftop stairs into the well upholstered and elegantly business oriented interior of the tower.

"Is Field Master Zhukov here as well," questioned Korva.

The Corporal nodded from ahead.

"He is, ma'am. He's in the command room with the General."

"Good," she muttered to herself.

The tower, which had obviously been some sort of corporate office building before the attack started, was now transformed into a make-shift UNDF military command. Desks and cubicles had been cleared, now stacked with portable computers or supply crates. Officers rushed to compare intel, re-check the status of the city, coordinate civilian defense, and in contrast, the encountered enlisted troops stood dutifully at guard, ready to repel any unforeseen threat.

For Ruby and Weiss, is was all such an alien sight. The only kingdom that maintained a ready, standing army was Atlas, and they were very, very clearly not in Atlas. On top of that, the vast majority of the Atlesian military was comprised of mass-produced mechanized infantry, supported by larger, armored walkers and their massive airships. Both of those aspects were, so far as they'd seen, absent from the UNDF repertoire of tactics.

VTOLs they had, and their small-group infantry were impressive if Saber Team were any indication. It was not a stretch to assume they had larger armored vehicles and fast-attack craft too, considering the escort they'd received on their approach, and the sounds that had been polluting the city's air as they landed. Overall, they were similar in overall structure to the Atlesians, and clearly had an applicable understanding of asymmetrical warfare, but the larger, flashier technologies were nowhere to be seen, and were replaced by a much more hands-on, human-oriented rank-and-file composition.

The other, far more concerning fact however –one that they had not even considered to investigate until just that moment, were the Huntsman and Huntresses. Rather, that they were suspiciously not present. Korva had explained on the flight to Kotova that they were in a state of emergency, that the region was experiencing a large Grimm incursion and that the facility they were in –that they had inadvertently helped destroy, if they were connecting the dots correctly, had been meant to be their warning system. It had been beyond their control, at least that was what they told themselves, but the two couldn't help but mentally take responsibility.

Even in a military power like Atlas, however, in the event of an emergency as serious as what was now happening around them, the Huntsman and Huntresses would be answering the call, fighting in the streets, coordinating with officials, helping evacuation; there was none of that in Kotova. The military had apparently been doing an admirable job of those on their own, and the Rangers had proven quite apt at the killing of Grimm, but where were their Hunters? Where were their heroes in their people's time of need?

"Right through here, ma'am. They're waiting, so go right on through," said the Corporal, snapping the girls out of their contemplations. Korva nodded to the young man as he walked off to attend to other duties.

The Captain bent down slightly, whispering to the Huntresses.

"I would advise you not to speak unless directly spoken to. The Field Master is a good man, but I've…we've dealt with the Major General before," spoke the elder Ranger, a look of distaste present at the mention of the General.

Weiss and Ruby nodded in compliance, and Korva led her team through to a conference room situated securely in the center of the building, four floors down from the roof. The conference room itself was dimmed to near total darkness, illuminated only by the glow of monitors, and a real-time holographic hexagonal-grid display of the city and the surrounding areas. For all the equipment that littered the room, its occupants only included two people.

The first was a tall, old man, completely bald, and, if he had to be summed up, physically looked as though he were falling apart at the seams. That was to say, he was so heavily scarred and battered that it seemed to Ruby that he should scarcely be alive. He wore the same brown coat as Saber Team, which led the Huntresses to the conclusion that he too was a Ranger, and was most likely Field Master Zhukov. However, "coat" was too generous a term for the ragged piece of cloth draped over his shoulder. So torn, ripped, and stitched back together was it, that one could hardly make out the always unique adornments that the Rangers were so fond of.

His face was two completely different shades of pigmentation, his left side stark white, which upon closer inspection was in fact not skin at all, but a polymer graft that had replaced a missing chunk of flesh all together. The eye of the same side was also artificial, and glowed with a dull, pulsating red hue.

The man next to him could not have been more opposite the Field Master. He was of a significantly shorter build, though not quite as short as Malik, who would still only reach about his nose. He had a full head of fiery red hair swept to one side, which descended into a scraggly, short beard. His uniform was an olive green, and pristine, medals and commendations gleaming in and reflecting the artificial light. A hat sat atop his head, the same shade as his uniform, and two stars were pinned to both it, and to each of his shoulders.

With Field Master Zhukov identified, it stood to reason that the officer was Major General Duff.

"Captain Korva," greeted Zhukov in a gravely but welcoming voice.

"Captain," said Duff, much more formally, and with a sharp chill to the word that made it seem hostile underneath the civil guise. His accent was new, different than that of Korvas, Malik's or Jay's, Ruby noted.

The Captain, as well as the rest of Saber, snapped rigid and saluted. Ruby and Weiss could not help but feel the gesture was one of grudging appeasement, rather than respect or discipline. They could see the disapproving frowns on the edges of Malik and Jay's lips.

"At ease," said Zhukov. "I trust your investigation bore fruit, Captain?"

Korva nodded. "It did, Field Master. We managed to retrieve the last readings and footage from the array before it went offline. It should give us an idea of what happened to the wall."

"What of the array itself? Did you determine what caused it to fail?" asked General Duff.

To that question, Korva hesitated.

"Yes and no, sir. I believe our guests would be able to shed at least some light on what occurred."

"Guests?"

Korva turned and waved for Weiss and Ruby to come forward. The two shuffled past Dmitry, who eyed the both of them with no small amount of concern, and came to stand to Korva's side.

Both the General and Field Master had a look of blank confusion on their faces.

"Captain," said Duff, still staring at the girls as though Korva were parading around a pair of juggling clowns through his command center. "Explanation?"

"Weiss Schnee and Ruby Rose," she replied simply. "I realize, General, how unorthodox this is, but these two girls –Huntresses, were present at the facility before we were, and they are…proficient in combating the Grimm, to say the least. We brought them back in hopes that they would be able to expound further on the events that took place in the mountains, and they are searching for two missing members of their team."

Zhukov looked to be fighting off a grin as Duff leaned over the conference table and sighed. He shook his head as the Field Master's mirth only increased.

Korva looked between her two superior officers, feeling as though she were missing a joke.

"Sirs?"

Zhukov continued to nod in amusement.

"We'd been getting sporadic reports for the last three hours, since committing forces to the advance toward the wall," explained Duff. "Lead recon elements of the 3rd Assault Brigade have been closing in on the breach, working a plan to seal it. They'd been calling in reports of previously observed large concentrations of Grimm seemingly dropping dead in the field, until about twenty minutes ago."

"The last report mentioned making contact with two strangely dressed young women, who later identified themselves as Huntresses, and who, quoted from a Specialist Young, "were killing Grimm like it was an Olympic-fucking-event, and they were aiming for gold," chimed in Zhukov.

"We thought it was a joke," exclaimed the General. "Evidence to the contrary, however, seems to have been delivered to our door. Leave it to the Rangers to make my life difficult."

There was an unusual and awkward silence that hung in the room as the General recomposed himself, and Zhukov continued to smile like Christmas had come early. Duff sighed again, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I'll have the data you recovered looked at, and as much as I would like to have these young ladies questioned regarding their involvement in this god-forsaken mess, and your team properly de-briefed, we've far too much on our plates at the moment. The questions can wait until this crisis is averted, and I need Saber in the field again ASAP."

"What do you need us to do?" Korva asked.

"Re-arm and re-supply, then you and your team will be linking up with the 3rd Assault Brigade. You're going to help them seal the breach; they'll be able to give you a more detailed, step-by-step idea of what they need from you. When you're ready, head back to the roof, your Chimera VTOL will be arriving shortly for you," the General explained.

The Captain stepped forward, arms folded behind her and chin held high.

"General, request permission to bring the Huntresses."

The General stopped, and while retaining an outwardly composed posture, seemed to exude a desire to throw the conference table through the wall and out the adjacent window.

"With all due respect to you and your…companions, Captain, we have enough teenagers running around our warzone."

Captain Korva's expression hardened in response to his disregard.

"If they're anything compared to their counterparts in the reports, they could be useful in sealing the breach," noted Zhukov. "I would suggest granting the Captains request."

Duff turned to the Field Master with a scowl.

"And if this were a Ranger operation, you would be free to endanger the lives of these children in whichever far-flung corner of this Earth you saw fit, but this is a UNDF command, Zhukov. My command. You are here as a courtesy, and not one that I had wanted extended to begin with."

" _With all due respect_ , General," replied Korva, fighting with everything she had not to growl out the words. "The two Huntresses are the only reason my team made it back from the Urals at all, and if the rest of their team is with the 3rd Assault, then it would make them far more cooperative if we brought Ms. Rose and Schnee along. They may have further intelligence on the breach that they would be more willing to divulge to us if we showed good faith."

General Duff massaged his temples, his face tinging red ever so slightly. Ruby and Weiss had not been blind to the awkward tension that had existed between the Rangers and the General, and clearly there was history that they were not privy to. Saber Team had proven to be trustworthy, and so far had held their word, and the Field Master seemed amiable. The General, however, was not giving them the best impression of the UNDF.

"Rangers," he hissed. "Put on your damn coats, hide behind your masks, and suddenly you think you can do whatever you please and not face consequences."

"I've made it no secret I don't agree with more than a few of your operational practices; your training is barbaric, your discipline is lacking, your acceptance standards are…questionable," he said, making no effort to hide the fact that he was looking at Dmitry. It was that moment, with those words, that cemented Ruby and Weiss' disdain for General Duff.

"But UNDCOM knows you're all too damn useful to risk pushing away."

The General himself was turned away, hands held behind his back. He was silent for a few moments.

"Your objective is unchanged," he warmed. "If these Huntresses of yours interfere in any way with the sealing of that wall, the lives it costs will be on your shoulders, Captain, and if the Grimm don't bury you, then I will. Are we clear?"

"Crystal, sir."

As if lives on her shoulders were anything new.

"Dismissed," he spat.

\----------------------------------------

Weiss found herself staring daggers out the window as she mentally ran through all that had happened in the conference room, glaring out at the skyline as though it were the cause of her outrage. She, Ruby, and the remainder of Saber stood in the UNDF headquarters' ad-hoc armory as Captain Korva discussed something with Field Master Zhukov, who had followed them out of the conference room. She couldn't tell what they were discussing, and frankly didn't care. She was much more content to stand by and practice telepathically assaulting the unfeeling buildings across from her.

Ruby was standing some distance off with Jay and Malik, explaining some of the specifics of Crescent Rose's operations and mechanisms as the two exchanged their weapons for arms more appropriate for front-line combat. They were quite impressed upon learning that she'd built it from scratch, and Malik actually took notes, trading engineering jargon with the young leader that she couldn't hope to decipher. The only member of their troop missing from her sight was Dmitry, which was unsurprising as he was easily the quietest person she'd ever encountered with the exception of perhaps Roman Torchwick's companion, Neo.

Now that she was consciously aware of his absence however, she couldn't help but wonder where he was, amidst her passionate door-hatred.

A sudden waving hand taking up most of her view answered that question easily enough. A past, less experienced Weiss would have jumped at the surprise. As it was, she merely snapped her head to the left, seeing the deceptively youthful Ranger looking down at her with a face that she could well enough piece together as questioning her current actions.

"Don't mind me," she insisted. "It's nothing."

He stepped in front of her, arms crossed. Dmitry wasn't buying it, which she couldn't blame him for, as she was not doing a particularly good job of hiding her frustration.

She sighed. "It's just, the nerve of that General. Talking about you li –you all, like that."

Weiss inwardly cringed, hoping he would glance over the slip of her tongue, which to her relief he did. He gave what was frequently becoming a predictable, Dmitry shrug. She puffed out another agitated breath and leaned back against the wall, crossing her arms. Dmitry joined her, mirroring her position.

"I appreciate your team fighting to let us come," she admitted. "Ruby and I have been quite worried about our teammates. It's good to know they're alright at least, but I'm relieved to be seeing them soon."

Dmitry smiled at her, but waved casually into the air. A clear "it's nothing, don't worry about it" gesture.

"You'll like them, I think," she continued. "Blake is quiet as well, so you two will probably hit it off just fine, and Yang has never had trouble making friends with people. I think she'll appreciate your team's enthusiasm for killing Grimm."

He kept on grinning, and pressed his fist into his open palm half-playfully.

"Dmitry, if you don't mind my asking, and I don't mean to imply that your team hasn't been immensely helpful, but where are your people's Huntsman and Huntresses? Ruby and I have noticed that, for all your military might, you seem to have no Hunters about, and your General spoke as if he didn't even know what they were."

Dmitry shook his head. Weiss felt she was quite good at working out what Dmitry meant through his body-language, expressions, and various pantomiming, –a useful skill developed from a long childhood of etiquette training, and gauging her father's easily swayed and deceptive moods- but in this case, a simple shake of the head was not sufficient enough of an answer. She shot him a half-flustered look.

"Does that mean no, you don't know where they are, or no, you have none?"

The Ranger responded by holding up two fingers to clarify. Two, second answer. It wasn't that their Huntsman were not around, it was that they simply had none. If that were the case, then it would explain, partially at least, why everyone found her and Ruby so odd.

"Dmitry," she pried further. "Do you know what an aura is?"

Again, he shook his head.

"Semblance?"

He was about to shake his head a third time, but then halted, and traced a circle in the air with his finger, then shot many invisible lines out from it, before pointing to her. It took her a moment, but then she realized, it was a glyph. He was asking if glyphs were her semblance. It was either very perceptive of him, or a very lucky guess. Who could really tell with the silent Ranger?

"Yes, Dmitry, those glyphs were my semblance," she answered, quietly proud that he'd picked up on it. "Ruby's is her speed. The rest of our team has them as well. They're…well, still not common where we come from, but far more commonplace than here I would guess."

He nodded in understanding, then pointed to her again, following with a twirl of his index finger upward, which gave her the impression of searching for a location. He was asking, she grasped, where she was from.

"I was born in the Kingdom of Atlas, to the far north, but I attend school in the Kingdom of Vale with Ruby," she said, turning to look to her leader, still goofing around with Malik and Jay as Korva continued to discuss something with the Field Master.

"We've been on the same team together for over a year now. I wish I could say this was the craziest adventure we've ever been on."

She turned back to Dmitry, who had moved to a nearby table, accessing something on an unused portable computer. Confused, Weiss followed, and looked over his shoulder at what he was looking up. He pulled up a map of Kotova, and then, slowly, began scrolling back. And back. And back.

The world around her suddenly opened up before her eyes, and revealed to her a fear that had been present at the back of her mind for some time, but one she refused to acknowledge. One that she played off as sheer delusion, and impossibility. After a certain distance, the map read 'Russian Federation' in bold lettering. The nation was absolutely massive, almost as large as the whole of Vytal if she had to guess, but Dmitry continued to scroll out, bringing more of the world into view. Other names began to crop out. Kazakhstan to south, the European Union to the west, the North American Cooperative across a vast ocean, The People's Republic of China, the North African Alliance, the United Kingdom, which had a smaller but still bold label beneath that read UNDCOM.

Weiss had to struggle not to stumble back. She had assumed, rightfully so, given her circumstances, that regardless of the strange sights and people surrounding them, they were still on Remnant. This revelation shattered that preconception. Her mind raced with a thousand possible, more logical explanations, but none of them seemed probable. Was this a trick? Why? What would anyone gain from making her think she were not any longer on Remnant? Besides, who could just casually fake a warzone? Who could build a fake military, a fake city, a fake map of a fake world, and then present it all in a convincing manner? No one, was the obvious answer.

On top of that, Dmitry would not lie to her. He seemed many things to Weiss, but dishonest, deceptive, those were not words she would associate with him. They were not on Remnant anymore. For whatever reason, however it had happened, it was now a reality she, and in time, the rest of her team, would have to face.

Weiss looked to Ruby, but decided not to say anything to her. They were about to be deployed to an even more important mission, and it wouldn't do to have their team leader weighed down by the knowledge. She would talk to them about it, but after their job was complete. After they were whole again. Until then, she would bear the burden herself.

Dmitry watched her intently, trying to gauge her mood. It was clear to him that, in showing her the map, he had made her uncomfortable, and promptly closed down the computer. He stood up, stepping toward her, but she waved him off.

"I'm alright," she said. "It's just…hard to explain. I suppose I just now realized how far from home I really am."

The Ranger continued to look at her, his expression growing solemn, and mentally kicked himself. He'd not meant for his curiosity to upset her. Weiss sensed his distress.

"It's okay, Dmitry. It's not your fault; I've dealt with worse, I'll be fine. There's just a lot more my team will have to talk about when we finally get back together, and finish with this madness."

Dmitry nodded. He pointed to Weiss, then to himself, and then clasped his hands together, finishing with a thumbs up and a smile.

"We're in this together, huh?" she smirked.

He nodded again.

"Well, I suppose that's enough."

\----------------------------------------

"Those two seem to be hitting it off well," noted Jay, looking over to Weiss and Dmitry, standing next to each other against the wall across from them.

Ruby was admiring the vast array of weapons and ammunition the UNDF had to offer, but still retained her place in the conversation.

"Weiss isn't good at first impressions, but she's nice if you get to know her," she explained. "Dmitry seems pretty patient. I wonder what they're talking about."

Jay snorted. "Given that it's D, probably not much."

"Lay off the kid," said Malik. "He's fine. He wouldn't be the first Ranger with an odd quirk or two."

"Hey, you know I like D just fine," she insisted. "Nice guy, and as a Ranger, he's top-notch for a rookie, I just wish he'd talk to us more than not at all. Sometimes he just stares at you, and it freaks me out a little."

Malik shrugged as he fiddled with a carbine.

"It's just the way he is, Jay. He's got our backs in the field, and he doesn't cause trouble, so he's alright in my book."

The objects of their discussion deserted their position and passed behind a rack of weapons, out of sight. With their disappearance, the conversation ebbed along a different path.

"So, I have a question," chimed in Ruby.

"We've probably got an answer," replied Malik playfully.

Ruby looked down, thinking about how best to phrase the question.

"It's just, I noticed that when I showed you Crescent Rose, back in the mountains, you said something in a different language, Malik. Then I started to think about how you, and Jay, and the Captain all talk differently, and the General talked differently too. I also noticed the writing on the walls in this building is different than the writing in that base, and the ones on everything the UNDF is carrying around. I was just wondering about all that."

"You wanna know why we all speak English, basically," summarized Jay.

Was that what they called it? In Vale it was called Vytali, the language spoken by the people from Vale and Vaccuo. Ever since the Kingdoms of Remnant united, they adopted Vytali as a sort of international language, since half the kingdoms already spoke it, and it was a popular trade-language. Atlas and Mistral had their own native tongues, but for purposes of inter-kingdom relations and cooperation, Vytali was commonly used, and in some cases, like being a Huntsman or Huntress, required.

Ruby supposed it wasn't so much of a stretch that other people used it, even if she hadn't heard of them. Remnant had its share of wanderers, nomadic tribes that chanced the unforgiving wilds, many of whom were from Vytal. They could easily have brought the language to…well, wherever exactly they were in the world. Ruby hadn't gotten a look at a large enough map –If these people even had a complete world map.

The kingdoms had "discovered" all the major land formations, but much of Remnant's actual land, especially those not housing any of the kingdoms, were largely unexplored and unmapped, save for their coasts to aid in the sailing of ship. The Grimm made it dangerous to go anywhere beyond the borders of the kingdoms, to say nothing of the supposedly uninhabited island continents. That, combined with the fact that it simply would not be cost effective to launch expeditions for seemingly no gain, and the natural world of Remnant was largely a mystery.

With that all in mind, Ruby nodded.

"Well," began Malik. "When the UNDF formed fifty-five years ago, it was decided it needed a common language, since people from all over the place would be working together. The nations that put in most of the funding, provided most of the troops, and supplied most of the logistical support all spoke English, and had sway in the UN Security Council. When the Rangers hopped aboard twenty years back, it was the same deal. We worked with the UNDF, so Rangers had to speak English. It was kind of a sore subject back in the day, but most UNDF don't care now. It's just part of the job."

"That's another thing I don't get," said Ruby. "Are Rangers and the UNDF the same thing? The General was ordering you around like you were his soldiers, but you all seem so different than the rest of them."

Malik and Jay both chuckled.

"It really depends on who you ask," said Malik. "The UNDF will say yes, the Rangers will say no. Neither are right or wrong."

The answer wasn't really what Ruby was looking for, and only served to confuse her more. Jay picked up on it, and decided to clarify for her.

"Basically, with everything going to hell in a hamster-ball, the UNDF get to tell us Rangers what to do; they have jurisdiction. Normally, the Rangers are left alone and we do whatever we think we should be doing, and the UNDF stays the hell out of our way, but in emergencies we defer to their command structure, which mean, yeah, the General can order us around, and there isn't much Field Master Zhukov can do about it. The Major General technically outranks him."

"Normally rank doesn't mean much to us Rangers," added Malik. "We have a team leader, group leader than handles the deployment of certain teams, base commander to administrate everything, and a Field Master that's pretty much in charge of everyone, but other than that, we're all pretty equal. We don't have distinctions between privates and corporals and specialists, or 1st and 2nd lieutenants, things like that."

"Technically," he continued. "Even though Dmitry only joined the Rangers a few months ago, he's got the same authority as us, and we've been Rangers for a few years. The ranks come in thanks to the UNDF; they need a ranked designation for us, but since they don't want us getting ordered around by every sergeant and gunny with an errand to run, they made us 2nd lieutenants by default. Same with the Captain, she's team leader so they gave her the Captain's rank. It has a pretty good ring to it though. "

Ruby sighed and plopped down on the bench next to them, Crescent Rose laying in her lap. The talk of ranks and the UNDF brought her thoughts back to the words that had been exchanged between the Rangers and the Major General. The power dynamics of this place seemed to run deep, and long, and they made little sense in Ruby's opinion. The Rangers seemed to have a better system, similar to the Hunters, but it was muddled by the UNDF.

"I don't like him," she muttered. "The General, I mean."

"Good," said Jay. "We'd be worried if you did."

"Captain Korva said you'd dealt with him before, what did she mean by that?"

"Long story," said Malik. "It's more like a couple of times. He's been breathing down the Ranger's necks ever since he became regional commander. I'm not quite sure why he's got it out for us, but he, Korva, and Zhukov have some sort of history, and I'm not curious or suicidal enough to shake that wasp's nest."

As soon as answers came, more mysteries and questions came to take their place, it seemed. Ruby sincerely wished there was time to sit and comprehend it all, but there were a million other things to consider and focus on, and her curiosity was not one of them.

\----------------------------------------

"That went better than I expected," said Zhukov, standing at the end of the hallway, outside the armory. Korva was staring out a nearby window. She knew he'd follow them out –that he'd wanted to talk. Zhukov always did love talking, almost more than being a Ranger.

"Which part of that went well to you, exactly?" she asked, not taking her eyes off the window, not particularly staring at anything. She was more looking at the glass itself, seeing Zhukov in its transparent reflection.

She saw him shrug.

"You didn't shoot each other, which is what I was expecting," he joked.

Korva found it less funny.

"He's even worse than I remember," she muttered.

"You say that every time," he pointed out.

"Because every time it's true."

Zhukov shook his head. Every time Korva and Duff met, it was the same song and dance between them. If Korva had been anyone else, Zhukov was sure by now that Duff would've already had their heads on the chopping block.

"Just seal up the wall," said Zhukov. "The sooner you get that done, the sooner he leaves."

She nodded.

Realizing the discussion regarding the Major General was now officially closed, and any attempt at re-opening it would be bad for his health, Zhukov chose the next best topic of conversation.

"Those girls, those Huntresses. You seem quite convinced they're something special. Tell me, are those report of ours accurate? I assume you've seen them in action."

For the first time since heading downstairs, Korva felt comfortable enough to turn away from the window and look directly at Zhukov.

"They're unbelievable," she said. "I'm not even sure how to describe what I saw, but they were untouchable. They killed a Blackbird by themselves, Zhukov, and apparently it wasn't an isolated incident either. Those girls kept pace with my Rangers like they'd been built from birth for this, like they'd been fighting Grimm out of the womb. If the rest of their team holds half a candle to what they can do, I almost feel sorry for those beasts."

"That's high praise, coming from a twenty-five year veteran. Can I ask your impression of them? Not their fighting ability, I mean do you think they were involved in this? This debacle we find ourselves in?" he questioned.

Korva sighed, trying to find a way to convey her mix of skepticism and suspicion.

"I think they are, but I don't think they intended to be. If you're asking if I think they sabotaged that facility, then I would have to say no. I did at first, but their actions up to now make me think otherwise; they do seem genuinely lost and confused about what's happening. I can't deny that they fit into this puzzle somewhere, but I don't think their intentions are malicious. The little red one, Ruby, is quite honest, I can see it in her eyes. Ms. Schnee seems to have latched onto Lieutenant Petrakov."

Zhukov nodded in understanding.

"That's good enough for me, then," he concluded. "Once this whole mess is cleared up, the General will likely have a lot of questions for them. I can't really spare them that, but afterwards, they're welcome back at Site-5. They've made themselves friends of the Rangers –the Rangers will be friends to them."

"I'm sure they'll appreciate that," she replied, looking to the door of the armory. "I should gear up, we need to leave soon."

"Of course. Be safe, Tasha."

\----------------------------------------

Dmitry was sliding extra clips for his T-40 into his combat-vest when the Captain walked through the door. Malik and Jay glanced at her as she came in, as he did, but none of them were brave enough to stare, let alone try to investigate what she'd been talking to the Field Master about. Even Dmitry, having only been on the team a few months, was aware that their commanding officer had some nebulous past involving the Field Master and the Major General. Malik and Jay had warned him about as much before their mission-briefing on the mountain facility. It was a tender subject, and Dmitry made a note to avoid it, not that it would be difficult.

Korva silently began gathering ammunition for her own T-40, and added an under-slung shotgun attachment, collecting shells for the sub-weapon as well. The rest of Saber exchanged unsure looks.

"Will we be heading out soon?" asked Ruby, breaking the silence the Rangers were hesitant to pierce.

The Captain nodded. "If everyone is re-supplied, we'll leave now. Saber?"

The Rangers snapped to attention in an instant, Jay and Malik replying with a stern "ma'am", and Dmitry saluting. It was an unusually formal response from the Rangers. Korva could tell her team was now walking on eggshells around her, ever since her confrontation with the General. That wouldn't do, she needed to re-establish the norm.

"Dmitry, good, you've kept it light," she said, pointing out his sparse gear –only his ammo and weapons, whatever was attached to his armor by default, and maybe a few energy bars. "The saved energy will come in handy if we need you to carry Ms. Schnee off into the sunset again."

Malik, Jay and Ruby all snickered at that, but Dmitry nodded dutifully, the joke either flying over his head, or as Weiss had surmised earlier, he just took jabs well. This only made the three laugh more. Weiss, who had been sitting with her legs crossed on a bench next to Dmitry, was red, though it was hard to tell if it was from embarrassment or lividness. Korva grinned to herself –good, laughter was good.

"And you two," she continued. "Try to keep pace with the teenage girls this time. They're already one Blackbird and about a dozen Grizzlies ahead of you."

Dmitry made a silent 'O' face at the remark, and Jay grinned knowingly.

"Now them sounds like fightin' words, Captain," she chuckled.

"Save it for the Grimm, you'll have plenty of opportunities to redeem yourselves," Korva smiled back.

The Captain slid a magazine into her assault rifle.

"Come on, we've got a breach to seal, and a team of superheroes to re-unite."

Jay shook her head as she stood. "No rest for the Rangers."

Saber and the half of team RWBY began filing out of the armory, Dmitry being the last in the line. Korva stopped him at the door before he was able to step through. He looked to her, worried perhaps he'd done something wrong.

"Dmitry," she said, in a softer tone than he was used to. "Joking aside, I don't want what the General said in the conference room to get to you. Your silence is your choice."

"No matter what this says," she said, pointing to his well-maintained coat, and then pointing to his throat. "Or what this does not, you've proven your place on Saber. You belong here."

The General's words had not hurt Dmitry as much as everyone seemed to think they did. He'd grown accustomed to people being untrusting of his silence, assuming he was less capable because of it. He'd learned long ago to ignore such talk, and simply do what was required, letting opinions come later. Still, it was nice to know his friends cared about how he felt, and were willing to defend him against undue harshness.

He smiled back at her, hoping to convey his gratitude, and nodded.

\----------------------------------------

The sky had grown overcast since the group had arrived in Kotova, and it was now drizzling down in the annoying gray area between actual rain and clear air. As such, there was a certain chill that had been pleasantly absent before. The Ranger's thick layers protected them from this, and while Weiss and Ruby looked as though they should have been cold, they denied a change of clothes before leaving, insisting they would be fine. Dmitry guessed it had something to do with their auras, as Weiss had expounded further upon it while he was gearing up.

It sounded fantastic, literally. If he hadn't seen them in action before-hand, he would have believed her to be telling tales, but he could not deny their strange power. A projection of the soul that protected you from harm, increased your strength, your speed, your reflexes, gave you amazing powers; if only the Rangers had such gifts! Dmitry could only scarcely imagine the training it took to master abilities such as that, let alone that they were still in training as far as she had divulged. The thought of a fully-fledged Huntress was a terrifying one.

_'Ranger Team Saber, this is Viper 3-18 on approach,'_ cracked a voice through their ear-pieces. Weiss and Ruby looked up to the sky along with the Rangers, having been given comm equipment of their own, along with a few elbow and knee guards, just as an extra precaution.

"Copy, Viper 3-18, we're awaiting your touchdown at the landing-pad," replied Captain Korva.

The Chimera VTOL descended from the sky only a few seconds later. It reminded Ruby of a Bullhead, though it was the same drab gray and green as everything else in the UNDF, and the dust-thrusters were replaced by rotors, there instead being two fixed-point thrusters just above the tail-end stabilizer. The vehicle was also much more angular than a Bullhead, which had a rounder, rotund appearance.

_'All aboard,'_ greeted the pilot, just barely skimming the surface of the pad, but not quite landing.

Jay hopped on first, followed by Malik, then Ruby, then Korva. Dmitry jumped up next, then turned to offer a helping hand to Weiss, only to find she'd jumped up right next to him. He immediately retracted his hand, a disappointed expression behind his mask, which he and the rest of Saber had re-donned. Weiss was aware of what he'd intended, and smiled apologetically. Normally she would have ignored such a gesture, but Dmitry was so unabashedly nice and polite about everything, she felt bad for the unintentional disregard.

"I'm fine," she assured him. "But thank you. It was gentlemanly of you to offer."

"Oh, D knows what the ladies like," commented Jay from the back of the canopy, in a mock-seductive tone.

Weiss looked as though she wanted to say something, but elected to instead take her seat across from Dmitry in silence.

"That's enough, Jay," warned Korva. "We have more important things to focus on right now. Save the jokes for the victory party."

"Ma'am," she conceded.

The Captain hit the hatch to the cockpit twice, as she'd done before when they left the mountains, and the familiar feeling of the ground falling away beneath them took hold.

"So what's the plan when we get out there?" asked Malik.

"We do as the General ordered. We link up with the 3rd Assault Brigade, and we help them close up that breach. If we're able to locate the rest of your team, Ruby, we'll collect them first before moving onto the wall. They'll be a huge help, I'm sure."

"They will be," Ruby assured them. "Yang's even stronger than me, and Blake is probably the next fastest. We'll get them to help."

The canopy hatch groaned closed as Kotova's cityscape rushed past them. They were headed back out into the fray again, re-armed, but facing more danger than before. They each could only hope that the 3rd Brigade, and the remainder of team RWBY, would be enough to turn the tide, and seal the breach. If they failed, Kotova would never be safe, and neither would the rest of the region.


	3. The Long Ride

**“Mrs. Mandella:** …William can take care of me. He’s a soldier, you know.  
**Carl:** Right-oh, yeah, you tol’ me. Whassit like, man?  
**William:** Mostly boring. When you aren’t bored, you’re scared.”  
**–Joe Haldeman, The Forever War**

“Family don’t end with blood.”  
**–Bobby Singer, Supernatural**

**Chapter 3: The Long Ride**

For all their success in securing the city-limits of Kotova, the UNDF was having less gracious run of the outlying open grounds of the largely untouched land between the city and the wall, of which there were roughly one-hundred kilometers (eighty miles) of. The 3rd Assault Brigade was comprised of four-thousand UNDF soldiers, along with dozens of armored vehicles and dedicated air-support. The Brigade was a unit in the larger, twenty-one thousand strong, 40th Mobile Defense Division, the majority of which was occupying the aforementioned city. 

The assault force had advanced over half-way to the wall, with the recon elements having taken a twenty or so kilometer lead. According to radio chatter, their advance was slowing, as the concentrations of Grimm were growing exponentially thicker as they closed in on the breach.

Four-thousand soldiers sounded like a big number, and it was true that, at a distance, a battle was in the UNDF’s favor. However, the Grimm were many, and shrugged off losses that would cripple a human army. In an engagement, the UNDF, on average, inflicted three-to-four times the casualties to the Grimm as the Grimm did to the UNDF. The Grimm did not feel these casualties as the UNDF did; after a certain point, the UNDF would not be able to continue, their command structure unsustainable –the Grimm had no such weakness.

On top of that, after a certain distance was closed, the advantage was flipped. While true the Grimm were largely at the mercy of ranged human weaponry, it became their undoing when the Grimm were almost inevitably upon them. The 3:1 or 4:1 odds in favor of the UNDF, reversed in close quarters. This was the death knell for any successful UNDF, or even Ranger operation against the Grimm. This was the danger the 3rd Brigade faced; keeping the Grimm at sufficient distance, while also advancing toward them.

The two Huntresses they carried with them, and the remainder of their team on the ground, were the exception to this, as they seemed to thrive against the Grimm at any range, but they were outliers and shouldn’t be counted.

_‘We’re coming up on the 3rd Brigade FOB,’_ informed the pilot over the intercom. _‘I’ll be setting you down, but I’ve been ordered to stay on station for the duration of your operation. If you need a lift or a little extra fire-power, let me know.’_

“Noted, Viper 3-18, much appreciated,” replied the Captain.

There was a noticeable sensation of weight disappearing beneath them as the VTOL descended back toward the ground. The rear-hatch roared open again, after being sealed shut for the entire trip out of the city. After the frigid mountains and depressing grays of the city, the green fields beyond were a welcome change of pace. If one squinted from their distance, they could see several river snaking along the horizon.  
The sky was still pelting the ground with droplets of half-rain, and the ground beneath their feet, while not muddy, had been softened. The terrain would soon be that much more difficult to traverse.

Dmitry silently cursed the showering sky. Rain was, in his opinion, the worst occurrence in nature; uncomfortable, inconvenient, and most of all, depressing. Rain was nothing more than the weeping of the Earth, trying to make others weep with it. The gray skies seemed to suck away all the color from the world.

As they off-loaded from the Chimera, an entourage of UNDF troops came to greet them, an un-helmeted, relatively young man with blindingly blond hair at the front.

“Captain, good to see you’ve arrived,” he said, rather jovially considering the 3rd Brigades predicament. He extended a hand to her, which she took.

“Major Wilhelm, 3rd Assault Brigade’s Executive Officer. Come, Colonel Biko is expecting you.”

Korva fell in with the Major, and the rest of Saber followed closely behind.

“Can you give me an idea of your situation, Major?” she asked. “The General more or less pushed us out the door.”

“Well, we’ve halted our main advance for the moment; too many Grimm, not enough ammo to kill them all, and the rain’s going pick up soon. It’d be suicide to keep going. We’ve secured the area for a few clicks out, and we’ve enough fire-power to keep ourselves alive here, but we’re going to need to make some sort of move that isn’t rushing in head-first, and soon. Luckily, the Colonel and I have been putting together a plan, with the help of our combat engineers.”

“And I assume we’re quite important to that plan?”

He nodded. “The Colonel will tell you more. In the meantime, I’ll be rounding up the rest of your group. I assume you’ve at least been briefed on our unusual newfound allies?”

“More than briefed,” chimed in Jay, jabbing her thumb over her shoulder at Ruby and Weiss.

Wilhelm’s smile widened and he laughed. 

“Well I’ll be damned, you found more! I apologize for not greeting you sooner, I’ve been quite pre-occupied as of late. Do you know the other two Huntresses we’ve encountered?” he asked excitedly.

“They’re our teammates,” Ruby replied.

“Excellent, that’s excellent news; this plan just became more doable. The Colonel will be pleased to know another two of you are running around. Speaking of which, the command tent is just down there,” he said, pointing straight down a row of armored vehicles and quickly-constructed supply caches.

“I’ll join you again shortly. In the meantime, you’ll be briefed on what we need from your team. If you’ll excuse me, Captain.”

“Of course, sir,” she replied curtly as he departed.

“Well,” Korva said, turning back to her team. “Let’s see what the Colonel has in store for us.”

The command tent, unlike the conference room used in the UNDF command back in Kotova, was well let, and populated with a dozen personnel, all either tapping away at keyboards, or writing something or other on paper, and one long-range comms operator in the corner. At the center of it all was Colonel Biko, tall and strong looking like the Field Master, but with the military properness of the Major General. He wore a cap over his closely shaven hair, and his skin was dark like Jay’s, though not quite as dark.

Upon their entrance, the Colonel dropped what he was doing to greet them.

“Ranger Team Saber? And…are they?” he asked hesitantly upon seeing Ruby and Weiss.

“Huntresses? Yes,” finished Korva. “We already know about the two you’ve encountered, they’re teammates. I realize, Colonel, that we have a plan to be briefed on, but would you happen to have your Huntresses locations?”

Biko nodded and turned to the comms operator.

“Sergeant, get X-ray 3 on the line, tell them they’re to fall back to Saranpaul, and to bring Goldilocks and Shadowcat back with them. They’re needed for a more important Op there.”

“Yes, sir,” he complied.

“Goldilocks and Shadowcat?” commented Jay.

“I didn’t name them, that was X-ray 3,” he defended. “Easy to remember short-hand, it just kind of became their call-signs. Anyway, they’ll rendezvousing with you all after we begin the operation. They’ve been with one of my scout teams for a little while now, so they have an idea of what needs to be done.”

“Are they alright?” asked Ruby. “I mean, they’re not hurt or anything?”

“None of my reports indicate they’re in anything but perfect fighting shape. They’ve proven pleasantly cooperative, actually.”

“We apologize,” spoke Weiss. “We’re just concerned for our teammates. We’ve been separated for some time now, and we’re…rather far from home.”

The Colonel nodded sympathetically.

“I understand, they’re your comrades. We all worry for our friends in times like these. I can assure you, they’re fine, and you’ll see them soon. We’ll need all four of you for this operation; your team is the ace up our sleeve in the event things go sideways,” he assured them.

“Now, let me explain exactly what we’ve cooked up.”

Biko dimmed the artificial lighting, and walked over to a portable holographic generator. It projected a large map of the surrounding region; Ruby could clearly see that their current position was marked just short of one of the rivers, and another dot, marked X-ray 3, could be seen slowly but surely moving towards a small town to the bases’ south. That was Yang and Blake, she thought to herself. 

“This is the precise location of the breach,” explained Biko, pointing to a glowing red dot along a blue outline, some fifty kilometers east of them. 

“Our approach is becoming exponentially more difficult as the Grimm become more tightly packed, and the rain is going to slow our movement even further. Which is why we’re going to need to hit this problem from more than one angle.”

An orange dot suddenly appeared on the map, just short of the wall, a few kilometers south of the breach.

“That, is an emergency manual power-transfer station. The wall has any number of defensive measures built into it; missile salvos, artillery cannons, motion-tracking .50 cal turrets, all to keep the Grimm from the wall. Those defensive measures are offline.”

More orange became visible, this time a line that emanated from the breach’s location, and ran a mostly straight line back to a location just north of Kotova.

“That is the primary power conduit for this section of the wall, powered by its own dedicated fusion reactor just outside Kotova. Reports indicate that the facility there is in working order, so the only thing stopping the wall from defending itself is the breach itself. We believe the power-conduit was damaged.”

“Aren’t there secondary measures in place to keep that from being a problem?” cut in Malik.

Biko nodded. “Normally, in an event like this, the power would be shunted to a number of secondary conduits, but that automated response seems to have also failed. The facility in the Urals could have remotely activated it, but since it’s been destroyed, we have only one other option, and that’s to do it by hand.”

A yellow line was now tracing out from the base, down a road, to the small town that X-ray 3 was heading towards.

“You’ll be taking some APC’s loaded with a team of combat engineers on the road south, to the town of Saranpaul. You’ll link up with X-ray 3 and the Huntresses there.”

“Why not take a Chimera,” questioned Jay. “It’d be faster than going by ground.” 

“True,” he admitted. “But I’m not chancing you attracting any Blackbirds; the rivers have been slowing the grounded Grimm, but the skies are far from clear out here. We’ve lost a lot of aircraft already, and I don’t have the resources to spare an escort. They might be slower, but the APC’s are quieter and less conspicuous. Ideally, you’ll be undetected during your mission.”

Jay seemed less than enthusiastic about being cooped up inside an APC, but she accepted the explanation.

“From Saranpaul,” Biko continued. “You’ll be taking the road along the Lyapin River until you reach the UNDF-built bridge that crosses the banks. The road across roughly follows the Kempazh River to the power-transfer facility. It’s the safest route; most of the Grimm seem to be ignoring the south in favor of advancing towards us and the city, though I hear some have made it as far as the northern mountains already. The roads should be clear, so you’ll likely meet minimal, if any, resistance. Once at the power center, you’ll watch the engineer’s backs while they bring the wall’s defense systems back online. It should be enough to keep more Grimm from worming through while you close off the breach.”

“And how will we be doing that?” asked Korva.

The display changed to a horizontal perspective, and zoomed into the wall, where a view of the breach was clearer. There was a massive hole blown in the lower ground section, creating a messy arch-like opening, allowing for Grimm to pass easily through. 

“My engineers tell me that, given the proper placement, a controlled demolition would cause the archway above the breach to collapse in on itself, sealing off the opening. Most of the weapons surrounding the breach are likely damaged if not totally destroyed, so it’s dead weight to us regardless. It’s of course a temporary solution, but I’ve been told the UADS Helena is inbound from Anchorage in Alaska. It should arrive in a few hours to help secure out position and begin aiding in the repairs, under the assumption that we can clear the Grimm out in the meantime. Once you bring the defense systems back online, proceed to the nearest service hatch, and make your way through the wall. The engineers will know what they need to do, just keep them alive.” 

Korva nodded. “Understood, sir.”

“We’ll be starting an advance soon to try and draw more Grimm away from the wall, help ensure no nothing cross your path. I don’t need to tell you that this job needs done quickly; I can’t guarantee how long we’ll be able to keep an offensive up, and every Grimm through that breach is another life potentially lost. That being said, I know you’ll get it done,” he grinned, then looked to Ruby and Weiss. “All of you.”

“Dismissed. Major Wilhelm has likely gathered together your vehicles and the engineers, just head to the south end and you should find him. Good luck to you.”

“Thank you, sir. Saber, let’s move,” barked Korva, turning to the exit, the rest of the team falling in.

True to Wilhelm’s word, the rain was indeed picking up, and the Rangers were dripping, as they ventured south. Ruby and Weiss were fine, despite their less hardy clothing; the rain droplets that struck them seemed to slide off them without actually making contact with them. Dmitry guessed that it must be their auras at work, keeping them dry, and felt a twinge of envy as his hair lie matted down against him. He wished he could blocked out the damnable rain so easily.

Whether against the Grimm or the forces of nature, the Huntresses seemed untouchable.

“Viper 3-18,” said the Captain into her ear-piece.

_‘You rang, Captain?’_

“We’ll be proceeding groundside for the foreseeable future, but I’m having one of my Rangers send you our planned route. Can I trust you to come to our rescue in the event of unpleasant company?”

_‘My guns are your guns, Captain.’_

“That’s what I like to hear. Korva, out.”

Malik was already tapping away on his micro-computer before Korva even gave him the order to. Within seconds, the screen winked back to darkness, the task complete.

Proceeding south, the six were waved over by an officer that they quickly identified as Wilhelm. He ushered them over to a pair of parked, but revving APCs. Like everything the UNDF made, Ruby though to herself, the APCs lacked any sort of aesthetic grace, but had a hardy, utilitarian blocky-ness to them that she couldn’t really appreciate, but did at the very least respect. It wasn’t going to look pretty doing the job, but by god it would get the job done.

Standing behind Wilhelm were eight helmeted individuals that were noticeably less armored than the standard troops she and Weiss had encountered. They still had the thick vests on their chests, but their arms and legs were more thinly covered, only by fatigues and weather resistant fabric, with fingerless gloves. They all also wore backpacks, and were only lightly armed with SMGs like the one Malik had carried before swapping it out for his current carbine, save for two of them, which carried pump-action shotguns.

“Captain Korva, excellent,” said Wilhelm. “This is 1st Sergeant Keller and engineering squad Indigo. You’ll be escorting them on your mission.”

The soldier in the center of the group stepped forward and nodded.

“Good to meet ya, Cap’n. Glad ya’ll are here, it’s mighty rough out there, though the Major kindly did pick us a right safe route through this mess. With any luck, we won’t have no trouble gettin’ up to the wall.”  
“X-Ray Actual will have the most up-to-date information on the route along the Kempazh, so be sure to check with them once you get to Saranpaul and link up with X-Ray 3,” informed Wilhelm.

“Understood, sir,” Korva replied, turning to Indigo squad. “Unless there’s anything else, I suggest we get moving.”

Indigo nodded and began filing into the APC’s, four in each. The vehicles seated twelve individuals comfortably, so Saber also broke off into groups. Dmitry, Malik and Weiss took the lead APC, seating themselves at the end, close to the hatch, while Ruby, Korva and Jay fell in with the rear, Korva and Ruby taking a similar seating arrangement, and Jay sitting a few seats away, closer to the center and the engineers, to lay out her more cumbersome gear.

“Sure seems like we’ve been doing a lot of sitting, talking, and riding around all of a sudden,” commented Ruby as she bucked herself into the rear cabin.

“Welcome to war, little red,” said Korva. “Long stretches of sitting, talking, and riding around, interspersed with short periods of shooting and running for your life.”

Jay chimed in as she began inspecting her LMG.

“The best outcome of which, is more sitting, talking, and riding around,” she said, turning to Korva. “And to think, you used to not even get paid for this, Captain.”

______________________________

Many kilometers away, to the west of Saranpaul, the team of scout troops that had suddenly become such a hot topic were now –shockingly– sitting and talking, having finished their mandatory periods of riding around, shooting, and running for their lives. For the moment, at least.

Three figures sat inside a scout Humvee, sitting just out of sight in some foliage by the lonesome road leading east to the wall. 

“I dunno Rei,” said the first figure, scratching dirty blond swoops of hair just barely kept within regulation length as he sat in the passenger seat of the vehicle. “Young’s been gone a while, you think he’s okay?”  
Rei scoffed, cleaning his thick-rimmed glasses from the driver’s seat.

“Well I’m sure as hell not riding to his rescue, but if you wanna put your cockney ass on the line for him, be my guest, Vin.”

“Okay, Rei, first of all, just because I’m from London, doesn’t mean I’m cockney,” Vin growled. “Secondly, he’s been gone like twenty-five minutes, and he hasn’t checked back once.”

“And he’s got the cat-girl-mutant-whatever with him, he’ll be fine,” he sighed. “I’d be surprised if they hadn’t won the whole battle already.”

“I told you, she’s a Faunus,” snapped the last figure from the roof of the Humvee, who rolled around and hung over the edge to glare at Rei.

“Faunus, mutant, I don’t know or care what she is. All I know is Young’s dumb ass will be fine if she’s around. Also, back off mega-melons, you’re fogging up my glasses.”

The blond frowned at the crude nickname, fighting off the urge to pop him one in the face. Blake would, of course, scold her for that though, probably something along the lines of it being hard enough to find allies without her breaking people’s noses. As it was, she held off.

“Oi, be nice to Yang,” chided Vin. “She did save our arses from that Direwolf pack back east.”

“That they drew towards us,” he snapped back. “Saving us doesn’t count if they’re the ones that almost killed us in the first place.”

“Hey, we said we were sorry about that,” Yang grumbled.

She had taken to laying around in the back seat grumpily, but appreciated that at least Vin was grateful. Rei was an insensitive jerk, and Young was mostly business. Granted, from what she understood, they were in a pretty serious state of emergency, so moods were bound to be sour, but she had her own problems to worry about, and so far as she’d seen, all X-Ray 3 were really doing was sitting around, far from the front-lines.

Ruby and Weiss had to be out there somewhere. Her last memory before everything got hazy was of them together, and if she and Blake had ended up…wherever on Remnant this crazy mess was happening, then her sister and the ice-queen couldn’t be too far. She needed to know they were okay, and sitting out in the middle of nowhere wasn’t doing her nerves any favors.

The silence of their waiting was broken by the sudden crackle of the Humvee’s radio.

_‘X-Ray 3, this is X-Ray Actual. I say again, this is X-Ray Actual to X-Ray 3. Respond.’_

Vin and Yang sat up and leaned in toward the driver seat as Rei answered the radio hail.

“X-Ray Actual this is X-Ray 3, go ahead, over.”

_‘X-Ray 3, you’re being recalled back to Saranpaul. We’ve just got orders from the 3rd Brigade FOB, you’re to return ASAP and await the arrival of an engineering team and their Ranger escorts. You’re also being instructed to bring the Huntresses you encountered; the Rangers found more that claim to know them. Over.’_

“Ruby and Wiess,” Yang exclaimed. They were okay, they were coming to her! Now all they needed was for Blake and Young to make it back and they could get on the road.

“Pipe down,” Rei hissed. “We copy, Actual. We’re finishing our grid-marking op, then we’ll head back immediately, over.”

_‘Acknowledged. X-Ray Actual, over and out.’_

The radio clicked to silence.

“Well that’s great,” said Vin, happily. “More Huntresses, and we get to head back. We even get to meet Rangers, how cool is that?”

“Yeah, great,” grumbled Rei.

Yang shot them a questioning look. “What are Rangers?”

“Grimm-killing machines, basically,” Rei explained. “Just one of them is worth half a platoon. A whole team? They may as well be sending a fucking company our way.”

Vin retook his position slumped in the passenger seat.

“You ever met a Ranger, Rei?”

He shrugged. “Never knew one personally, but I’ve seen plenty. Talked to a couple. I used to live near the Mojave wall, Rangers would come into town sometimes.”

“You ever think about trying to join?” he asked. “I mean, we’re not commissioned officers or anything. We could if we wanted to. It’d be more exciting than scouting missions, at least.”

Rei scoffed at him.

“I’m not nearly that suicidal.”

“What do you mean by that?” asked Yang.

“I mean,” Rei said, the annoyed edge to his voice growing. “The Rangers accept pretty much anyone with two legs and a pulse, but the initiation to actually qualify for the training is insane. Actually insane. They throw you like thirty kilometers outside the wall with the shirt on your back and a knife, and tell you to walk.” 

“Walk where?” asked Vin.

“Where else, genius, back to the wall. You get three days, and if you don’t make it back, they leave you to die, and fuck if they’ll come looking for you. I heard sometimes, nobody makes it back.”

“And you know so much about these people, how?” asked Yang, laying back down in the backseat.

“I told you,” he sighed. “I grew up around these people. I asked them. It’s not exactly a secret; they’re pretty up-front about what you have to do and what it’s for. They give you tons of chances to back-out, and that alone gets rid of the cowardly ones, the initiation itself vets out the dumb and weak ones, and the four-fucking-year long training filters out the lazy and impatient ones. Anyone left after all that is an insane mess of 100% Grimm-murder just waiting to be unsealed.” 

“Oh,” muttered Vin meekly.

Rei scoffed again.

“Yeah, oh.”

It certainly sounded rough, though Yang couldn’t help but draw parallels to her own initiation into Beacon. In many way, these Rangers sounded similar to the Hunters. Elite, Grimm killing warriors, thoroughly trained for years, expected to survive in intense environments while maintaining combat effectiveness. She did have to concede, however, that she had at least been able to keep her weapons to fight the Grimm. Fighting those Ursas, or the fight against the Nevermore that seemed so long ago now, would certainly have been more dire had she only had a knife to work with.

_‘Rei. Rei, do you copy? Over.’_

The radio crackled to life again, drawing the Humvee occupants’ attention. Rei answered the call.

“This is Rei, over,” he answered.

_‘Rei, we finished up our last sweep. Nothing for a few kilometers it seems like. Shadowcat’s already on approach, I won’t be far behind. Resist the urge to shoot us. Over.’_

“I am currently resisting, out.”

Like clockwork, a light thunk resounded from above, followed by a monochrome clad figure dropping from the roof, and swinging open the back door of the Humvee. With a heavy sigh, she threw herself onto the seat that Yang had quickly vacated. Rain-water dripped from a black poncho draped over her shoulders.

Yang looked her up and down, a smirk on her face.

“You look miserable,” she chuckled.

Blake pulled the hood back on the poncho, a grimace streaked across her face.

“I hate the rain,” she grumbled.

“Well I’ve got some news that’ll warm the cockles of your heart for sure,” she said with a smile. “We’re headed to a town, and Ruby and Weiss will be meeting us there.”

Her eyes widened in surprise.

“They’re okay?”

“Got picked up by some Rangers,” spoke up Vin. “We’re being recalled for something, and they need you both there. I guess someone further up the chain wants your team re-united.”

Blake sighed in relief. It had been hours since coming to out in the strange land that surrounded them, with not a single sign of Ruby or Weiss. She’d begun to consider the worst, but now they were safe, and soon their family would be in one piece again.

“That’s wonderful news.”

“Yeah, parades all around,” said Rei. “Now as soon as Young hurries his ass back here, we can get going and get the Sailor Scouts back together.”

“I heard my name,” came a new voice.

They each turned to the same back door that Blake had come through. Young, still covered in his rain gear, threw himself into the backseat, forcing Blake and Yang to squish together and make room. He pulled back his hood and threw off his helmet, fanning through his light brown hair with one hand as he closed the door with the other.

“We’re being recalled,” said Rei, revving up the Humvee’s engine.

“To Saranpaul?”

“Yeah, some Rangers are swinging through, and they’re asking for jumbo-jugs and Ms. Neko-neko back there. Figure it must be something important.”

“So what are we doing?” asked Young.

Rei shrugged, pulling the Humvee up onto the road, heading west.

“With any luck, getting something to eat,” he sighed.

______________________________

Saranpaul was roughly thirty kilometers south from the 3rd Brigade’s FOB, meaning the drive down with the APC by road would take 25 minutes or so. Dmitry was growing restless with all the sitting around they’d been doing lately. The rain was causing small tinking sounds to resonate in the cabin as they struck against the outer metal plating. 

He hated the rain; nothing good ever happened in the rain, and amidst the otherwise silent drive, it brought to the forefront of his mind, thoughts he would rather have pushed back to the metaphorical box he’d stored them in. Memories of harsher rains. It made him unconsciously bounce his leg up and down in agitation.

None of the engineers paid him any mind. Rangers were to be respected, or course, and many of the Non-com UNDF held them onto a sort of legendary pedestal, but they were also mysterious, and mysteriousness often garnered unsavory rumors and even some fear. None of them were about to say anything to either him or Malik; you left Rangers to Ranger business. Malik himself had also noticed, but chocked it up to nerves. No matter how competent, Dmitry was still a rookie, and this was more intense than any of their previous assignments.

Only Weiss thought to act on his somewhat odd behavior, and lightly nudged him in the side with her elbow, snapping him out of his stupor. He jolted back to the present, and swiveled his head to the side to her.  
The sudden, violent movement had honestly surprised her.

“Are you okay?” she whispered.

Slowly, he nodded, turning his head back to face forward.

The heiress was puzzled by Dmitry’s sudden and random behavior; the Ranger had thus far proven himself both a staunch and loyal professional, or exuberant to the point of almost child-like enthusiasm. This mysterious, somber mood that had taken him since they departed toward Saranpaul was concerning.

She tried to make herself believe he was, perhaps, just tired. After all, he had no aura manipulation to speak of, so none of the Rangers possessed the strength or endurance she, or the rest of her team did. The explanation didn’t sit well with her, though. It was something more than simple physical fatigue; that much she could feel.

A cramped APC was no place to bring up such a subject, though. When they departed, after reaching the town, and meeting up with the rest of her team, then she could speak to him about it. Hopefully she could figure out what had him so aggravated. For the moment, it would have to sit.

Meanwhile, one APC away, there was no shortage of conversation.

“Ruby,” said Korva. “You’ve been with your team for some time, correct?”

Ruby nodded. “Yeah, for over a year and a half now. Why?”

“I’d like for us to keep working well together, so I was hoping you could tell me more about it, your team I mean,” she explained.

The request was vague, but Ruby felt it was a reasonable request, especially in the name of teamwork. Ruby and Weiss’ coordination with Saber Team had very much been a trial by fire, so having an awareness of what Yang and Blake brought to the table beforehand would speed things along tactically. Captain Korva was also an experienced commander and leader; the mission would be most likely to succeed if she had as much information as Ruby could give her to work with.

“Um, sure. What did you want to know?”

“I’ve already seen what you and Ms. Schnee can do, but what of the others of your team? What skills should I be aware of?”

That was simple enough, she just wanted to know about their weapons and semblances.

“Well,” Ruby started, “Well, our teammate Blake’s weapon is called Gambol Shroud, it’s a pretty multi-purpose weapon. It’s a sword…well, technically two swords if you count the sheath, and the smaller blade can fold up to be used like a whip, or a gun. She’s pretty fast, and she’s really good at dodging thanks to her semblance.”

Korva tilted her head in confusion.

“Semblance?”

The single word question threw Ruby off for a moment, before remembering that the Captain wasn’t a huntress, and so she probably wouldn’t know what a semblance was. Even in Vale, most people in their day to day lives knew of and thought little about the Huntsman and Huntresses of Remnant. Despite their fantastic and romantic allure, actual technical knowledge of them was not as common to the average citizen as it had been for Ruby, as she had grown up with Hunters for parents, and lived within spitting distance of a combat academy for most of her life.

It was kind of like assuming someone knew the exact function of a carburetor just because they happened to live near a lot of auto-mechanics.

“Oh,” she said, recomposing herself. “Uh, it’s like the special powers we have. Like when Weiss made those glyphs on the bridge? That was her semblance. Mine is super-speed. Blake can make shadow-copies of herself to take hits in her place.”

She’d tries to keep the explanation as simple and brief as possible, for the sake of clear understanding. No need to dive into the technicals of aura manipulation –she wasn’t the best person to give that explanation anyway.

Korva nodded, though Ruby was still unsure if it had been an adequate explanation.

“Then what of your last member?”

“Yang? Well, she’s easily the strongest of us, at least physically, so she tends to take a much closer range approach. Her Ember Celica gauntlets have shotguns attached to them, so her punches are pretty lethal to anyone or anything without aura. She also gets stronger when she’s mad, if that helps.”

“She would be a good choice for either taking point or watching our six in the maintenance shafts then,” said Korva. “They tend to be narrow.”

“Why so much caution inside the wall?” Ruby asked. “I figure it would be pretty safe in there at least.”

Korva shook her head.

“This breach has been open for hours, and many Grimm favor dark spaces. It wouldn’t surprise me if a few had crawled inside by now. We’ll need to be on our guard.”

“You sure seem to know your Grimm,” said Ruby.

Korva chuckled. “Well, I’ve been a Ranger a long time, but don’t sell yourself short, little red. You’re hardly a novice when it comes to the hunting of Grimm. You would make a fine Ranger, I’m sure.”

Being a Ranger didn’t seem too different from being a Huntress to Ruby. You still had teams, you still went through training, fought Grimm; the only thing that really separated them as far as she could tell, was the lack of semblances and aura manipulation. The Rangers, as skilled as they were, were just regular, every-day human beings. With that in mind, the comment became quite flattering.

“You think?” she laughed.

“I do,” Korva replied, and then was silent for a moment.

“Do you enjoy being a Huntress?” she asked. “Do you find fulfillment in it?”

Ruby nodded. “Yeah, of course. I decided to become a Huntress because I wanted to help people, and I get to do that all the time, even though I’m really still learning. Yeah, I do enjoy it.”

“That’s very good,” she said, then laughed. “You just reminded me of my younger daughter, Vera, talking like that. She wanted to be a Ranger for much the same reason.”

Ruby’s eyes widened in surprise. 

“You have a daughter, Captain?”

“Two. Identical twins, though Cordelia would always argue she was the older, always try to take charge.”

Ruby laughed, she knew what that was like. Not having a twin, obviously, but a take-charge older sister was something with which she could relate well.

“Did they both want to be Rangers like you?”

Korva nodded.

“Oh, well what team are they on?” asked Ruby.

“They’re not on a team,” she replied, then after a moment, continued. “They didn’t qualify for the training.”

Ruby’s expression shifted to disappointment. That must have been a bummer. Being a Huntress was her life-long dream, and she could only imagine what it would have been like not to get into Beacon. 

“That’s too bad. There’s always next time thought, right?”

Korva didn’t reply, and Ruby, in that moment, was suddenly overwhelmed with the sense that she’d said something wrong. 

______________________________

Saranpaul, even in the years between the arrival of the Grimm, the construction of the walls, and the present, had changed little. It was still a small town sitting along the banks of the Lyapin River, now overshadowed by Kotova in the distance. It was this town that Recon Group X-Ray had set up shop in, tasked with surveying the eastward road to the power transfer facility, marking potential threats. They hadn’t the equipment or man-power to examine the entire stretch of road in the time they were allotted, but the grid was looking mostly clear.

X-Ray 3 pulled onto the main road through the town and parked the Humvee along the sidewalk. As the soldiers and Huntresses exited the vehicle, they were already being approached by what was clearly a superior officer.

“How went the hunting, boys?” asked the Lieutenant.

“All quiet from our end, sir,” replied Young.

The officer looked to Yang and Blake. The two girls stood off to the side, Blake’s hands held respectfully behind her back, and Yang leaning against the Humvee.

“I take it you must be Goldilocks and Shadowcat,” he said. “I suppose the UNDF owes you a bit of thanks for clearing out so many Grimm. You’ll be glad to know we have some Rangers enroute that found some people that claim to be friends of yours.”

Blake nodded. “We heard. We’re eager to meet up with them. Do you know when they’ll be arriving?” 

“You’re just in time,” he replied. “APC’s from north are due here any second now.” 

He turned to X-Ray 3.

“You three will be tagging along with the Rangers too, they’ll need some people already familiar with the terrain and threat placement on their way to the wall.”

Rei, Vin and Young all exchanged glances. Them? On a Ranger mission? Were they trying to get the three of them killed? Each of them wanted to protest, but you didn’t just say “no” to the Rangers. When they went somewhere, it was because someone with medals on their chest and, statistically speaking, chunks of something important missing, told them they needed to be there. Missions like that didn’t take kindly to complaints from grunts.

The hum of engines rumbling down the road caught their attention, and two APC’s rolled down the road, passing the Humvee by before coming to a halt.

The first people out of the vehicles were Rangers. Rei recognized them immediately by the coats, Vin and Young taking a second to process them before catching up and realizing, yes, those were real Rangers. Their plastic and metallic masks gave them an intimidating, but professional aura, and their coats, customized with unique decorations, made them seem hardy and heroic. Three of them stood by the APC’s, probably to stretch their legs, while one of them came forward, to meet the Lieutenant.

Directly behind them, much more easily seen against the gray and through the rain, were two young girls. One was dressed crimson-trimmed black all over, a hood over her head and cloak billowing in the wind. The second was stark white, even her hair. It made her seem like living ice. There was a sword at her hip, and her arms were folded, as she stood closely to one of the Rangers.

Suddenly X-Ray 3’s vision collectively became a blur of yellow as Yang propelled herself forward full kilter through the rain.

“RUBY!” she cried.

The red girl’s head perked up, searching for the familiar voice echoing her name through the rain-soaked street. When she locked eyes with Yang, she exploded into rose-petals, exceeding even her sister’s speed to meet her. The two collided, seemingly without injury despite their intense velocity, and latched onto each other so tightly one might have thought them trying to merge into a single being. 

They fell to the ground, becoming wet from the rain for the first time, too overjoyed to even keep their auras up to guard against the rain. Both groups could hear their laughter over the rain.

“You’re okay!” Yang exclaimed, rolling around with her sister dragged along for the ride.

“Of course I am!” she cackled. “I was more worried about you!”

Meanwhile, Weiss had managed to squirm past the now soaked sisters, meeting up with Blake, who was looking on in no small amount of amusement.

“Those two don’t ever change, do they,” Weiss sighed with a smile before turning to Blake. “I’m glad to see you’re okay. Ruby and I were worried when we couldn’t find you after waking up.”

“Likewise on both counts, heiress,” she joked, pulling Weiss into a much more subdued, but nonetheless affectionate embrace. It was surprisingly pro-social for Blake, but Weiss didn’t fight it. The relief she felt, having their team back together again, was akin to coming home.

“Group hug!” shouted Yang and Ruby simultaneously, having snuck up on the other half of their team. Yang’s immense strength, easily pulled the two girls into her grasp, and Ruby ensured they didn’t escape by latching onto the other side. The sister’s laughed, and their teammates were soon drawn in as well.

Saber Team watched in silence as Team RWBY reformed in all its glory. Korva found it in herself to smile behind her mask. The girl’s unbridled joy was an uplifting force, and brought to her mind bittersweet memories of a time when she took such laughter for granted. Dmitry smiled as well, and looked up to the sky, swearing the rain felt lighter.


	4. Good Vibrations

"I'm not an expert in the field, but that sounds  
to me like the cries of the damned."

–Gordon, Freeman's Mind

.

"And then, somehow, it got worse."

–A common Russian joke, when asked to sum up the country's history

.

**Chapter 4: Good Vibrations**

"Well ain't that sweet," said Jay.

The rain continued to pour down in Saranpaul as team RWBY finally re-united. Yang was practically lifting all three girls off the ground, their laughter still overpowering the falling rain. It truly was a heartwarming scene.

"Leave them alone, Jay," said Malik. "They weren't even sure the rest of their team was alive a few hours ago."

"Hey, I'm being serious, this is a diabetes-inducing level of sweetness. Why don't we have group hugs? I'm gonna tell the Captain we should have group hugs."

Jay slid past Malik and spread her arms wide, closing in on Dmitry.

"Come on, D! Its hug time," she grinned.

Dmitry stepped away quickly, causing her to laugh and give short chase. Dmitry continued to duck and weave away any time she got close, which only encouraged her more.

"Jay, can you at least try to act professional?"

"It's in the interest of team building, Malik," she replied.

The shortest of Saber shook his head, choosing to join the Captain instead of indulging his teammate's shenanigans. Korva was speaking with X-Ray's Lieutenant and X-Ray 3 about their involvement in the operation. She could tell the three of them were on edge from their unsure glances to one another and occasional shuffling and shifting in place as she spoke. She chose to reassure them of their roles.

"We'll just need you for our approach; you know the situation here best, and you know the Grimm placement. Once we reach the wall, you'll be free to return back here if you choose. We'll handle our own exfil," she explained.

"They're jokers," said the Lieutenant. "But their recon's good. They'll have your back."

"That's all we need."

"We…won't let you down, Captain," said Young, standing very rigid.

Korva patted him on the shoulder, and turned away. Malik fell in with her, the two looking on as Jay still pestered Dmitry, who had somehow managed to get atop one of the APCs, out of her reach. The girls had settled down, having moved underneath an awning, and were talking animatedly, though Ruby was pleasantly riding on Yang's back.

The Captain sighed, smiling behind her mask.

"Some days, Malik, I think you're the only one who is not secretly a child."

"Thank you, ma'am."

Over with team RWBY, under the awning, Ruby was recounting her and Weiss' adventures in the mountains.

"And then WHAM! I chopped its wing off! It was so cool, you should have seen it," exclaimed the scythe-wielder, recounting the battle against the Nevermore.

"Sounds like quite an adventure," said Blake.

Yang would have been rubbing her chin thoughtfully had both her arms not been occupied holding her sister.

"What do you think of those Rangers?" she asked.

Rei had been informative about them, but Yang felt he was a tad biased, and lacked the full picture. Ruby and Weiss had spent time with the people, spoken with them, fought with them, and honestly she trusted Ruby's judgment of people more than random scouts. She would have the best gauge for how much to trust them.

Ruby looked over her shoulder at Korva and Malik.

"Well," she started. "Captain Korva is stern and tough, but pretty nice. We talked a little bit, and she seems mostly just curious about us. We originally weren't going to be allowed to come with them to see you, but she argued for us, so I think she's trustworthy. Jay and Malik are nice too, even if they didn't really trust Weiss and me at first I think. I think Jay thinks we're cool after the Nevermore, haha. Malik is kinda quiet, but not nearly as much as Dmitry."

Ruby changed her view to the Ranger, sitting on top of the armored vehicle, safely perched away from Jay.

"He's a little weird," the Huntress admitted. "But he seems really friendly. Weiss would know better than I would, though."

Weiss snapped to sudden attention at the sound of her name, folding her arms indignantly, and furrowing her brow in annoyance.

"What makes me such an expert?"

Ruby arched her eyebrow in confusion.

"Uh…because you've been hanging around him since we all met?"

"No I-"

Weiss was about to rebuke the statement as total fiction, but upon replaying the last few hours in her head, she realized Ruby was absolutely correct. She had spent nearly all her downtime talking with Dmitry, or at least hovering around him. Odd, but an irrelevant subject at the moment.

"Aww," Yang cooed. "Did Weis make a new friend? All on her own? I'm so proud of you!"

The blond bear-hugged her, lifting her from the ground again.

"If you value your health, you'll put me down this instant, Xiao Long," the heiress grumbled.

Yang, still beaming with pride, complied. The pale Huntress brushed away some non-existent dust upon returning to solid earth.

"Anyway," she sighed. "He's rather quiet, yes. Silent actually, I've yet to hear him utter a single word. It's a bit of a mystery; he's clearly not deaf, and I've not found any evidence of injury that might disable his vocal chords, so I can only assume it's voluntary. I haven't asked him why, I hardly think it's my business. Besides, I've been able to keep up conversation with him regardless."

There was a short silence among RWBY, Yang and Blake's eyes on her expectantly.

"What?"

"And?" urged Yang.

"And what?" she repeated.

"She wants to know what your impression of him is," said Blake.

Weiss looked away, seeing Dmitry, having abandoned his perch, and instead opted for the drier canopy below. He sat patiently at the edge of the hatch, and suddenly looked to her, noticing her looking at him. He gave a short wave. Before realizing her misstep, she reflexively raised her hand and waved back. She almost cringed when it dawned on her that Yang had been staring right at her as she had done that.

"Oh my god, that is just the cutest. That's all I needed," Yang giggled.

"They have been getting along rather well," chimed in a new voice, causing all four girls to swivel around.

Captain Korva stood, hand against her hip, directly behind Yang and Ruby. The start had made Yang make a few reflexive steps back, which unintentionally gave her a better view of the woman. She was only a few inches taller than Yang herself, but there was something, a quality she couldn't grasp at, that made her seem so much larger than she was. Her vibrant red hair briefly flashed an image of Pyrrha through her mind. That obviously wasn't it, but it didn't hurt her commanding aura in the least.

"Oh, hey Captain," greeted Ruby.

"I thought I might formally introduce myself to the rest of your team," she said pleasantly. "Better to do it now than in the field."

She extended her hand to Yang, as she was the closest.

"I'm Captain Korva, leader of Ranger team Saber. You are Yang, I would guess?"

Yang nodded. "That's right. Was Ruby talking about us?"

"She was. I wanted to familiarize myself a bit before we met in person, and she was kind enough to inform me," she answered, then turned to Blake. "I suppose that would make you Blake…at the risk of sounding foolish, I couldn't help but notice you have cat ears."

"I'm a Faunus," Blake replied, resolve backing her voice. "Will that be a problem?"

"I'm sorry, Captain," interjected Ruby. "I kind of left that part out since she's usually pretty good at hiding it, and some people, you know, don't…I mean, not that I was assuming you were like that, I just thought it could wait until after the mission…"

Ruby trailed off under Korva's gaze. The Captain looked from her back to Blake.

"There are many strange things I've seen today," she said. "Most of them from you girls. I won't pretend to know what exactly it is that's going on, and as of right now it's not a top priority. All that matters to me is that you are able to help close that breach. Ruby has vouched for you, so I am inclined to believe you are."

She turned back to Ruby.

"We'll be heading out soon. I'll trust you to catch them up to speed on anything they need."

Ruby nodded back.

"Good, file back into the APC's in five. You four will ride together with Dmitry. Jay will be accompanying the scouts."

With that she walked off, meeting back up with Malik and heading in the direction of Jay.

"Well," said Yang after a moment of silence. "She seems nice?"

"She doesn't seem to have a problem with Faunus at least," remarked Blake. "That's something."

"Actually," said Ruby. "I need to ask her one more thing. I'll be back in a second."

Her aura flared back up into a thin protective layer as she returned to the rain, the droplets sliding neatly off the translucent barrier, never striking her clothes or exposed skin. She splashed across the street, catching up with the Ranger and falling in by her side.

"Captain Korva," Ruby spoke, causing the older woman to slow her pace and look back.

"Did you need something?"

"Yeah, um…Captain, I wanted to apologize."

Korva shook her head.

"I understand why you didn't tell me about your teammate. You were putting the mission first, it was good leadership thinking."

"No, it wasn't that," Ruby clarified. "It was about the trip here. I'm not sure what it was, but I feel like I might have upset you back in the APC. I-"

Korva put up her hand, gesturing for her to stop, which she did mid-sentence. She obeyed, and Korva set the hand on her shoulder.

"Go join your team, Ruby," she said, softer than her normal military tone.

"Be prepared. As a team leader, you're helping me to command this mission. I need your help for this."

Due to the disparity between her younger age and her position, Ruby was accustomed to being talked down to. To being treated like a child, and "thrown bones" one might say. She'd become quite adept at figuring out when someone wasn't taking her seriously.

The Captain was not one of those people.

Even professor Ozpin, one of the only people to put near constant faith in her abilities, approached her as a mentor, a guiding hand. Benevolent and well meaning, but above her. Captain Korva was different; her words were genuine, but her tone was not that of a commanding officer to a subordinate, or an elder to a juvenile. She spoke as a leader, speaking to a fellow leader. A peer.

Ruby had long ago earned her team's respect, but found her position afforded her little notice from her teachers or other adults she interacted with. The seriousness with which Korva treated her was continually unexpected. It was motivating; the desire to remain a valued colleague now drove her to command her team with new passion.

She nodded emphatically.

"You can count on me, Captain."

"I know I can," she replied. "You have a leader's eyes."

With that she strode off again, and Ruby did the same, snapping back to reality a moment later, heading back in the opposite direction.

Once back, the girls decided to head for their designated vehicle, since they would be leaving soon anyway. The four approached the APC, Dmitry still sitting just beyond the threshold of the hatch. He gave another wave as they approached, and Yang bounded up to him, ahead of the other three.

She extended her fist in front of her, expectantly. Dmitry recognized the social cue, and returned the favor, meeting her fist with his.

"Yeah!" she exclaimed happily. She had honestly wanted to hug him for helping to look after Ruby, but after what she'd observed earlier, she decided a fist-bump would have to suffice.

"Thanks for keeping my sister and Weiss out of trouble."

Dmitry shook his head, gestured to Ruby and Weiss, and then patted his bicep.

"Dang, you were right, he really doesn't talk," she commented, earning her a jab in the side from Blake.

"Oh, uh, I mean, not that that's a bad thing."

Blake sighed and ushered her aside.

"I apologize for her, she talks without thinking sometimes," the Faunas said, extending a polite hand forward, which Dmitry took. "I'm Blake, and that was Ruby's sister, Yang. We're the other half of team RWBY, as I'm sure you gathered."

He nodded. He eyed the girl's strange ears from behind his mask, but guessed that the Captain had probably already brought it up when she spoke with them not a minute ago. They did seem like conversation starters. He fought back his curiosity and decided to let it go.

"Yes, well," interjected Weiss. "While we have the time, Dmitry, I was hoping to speak with you privately. If you'll excuse us."

She didn't wait for any of her team to reply, and instead took Dmitry by the sleeve, and took him further down the street, past the APCs. Dmitry was confused, unsure if he'd offended her or her friends in some way. She released him after they'd gone beyond earshot of the others.

"I apologize for dragging you back into the rain," she muttered.

Dmitry shrugged. He was already soaked, and would continue to be. However much the rain irritated him in the back of his mind, it was a fact he would have to deal with until the completion of the mission. It was no big deal.

"I don't want to presume to know you," she began. "We've known each other for a very short time, but regardless, I feel the need to ask if something is wrong. Your attitude during the ride here, given the mission we're embarking on, is concerning. You seemed agitated, distracted, on edge."

Dmitry had honestly hoped she'd have let that go. He shook his head and waved it off, heading back to the awning.

"Don't patronize me," she snapped. "I may not know you, but I do know dishonesty when I see it."

He stopped mid-step. He gave a silent sigh, and turned back to face her, pointing up. Weiss followed his finger to the sky.

"The sky?" she asked.

Dmitry brought four fingers down again and again.

"The rain?"

He nodded.

"Why does the rain bother you so much?"

He shrugged. It was the first time his reluctance –no, refusal to speak, had actually frustrated her.

"Fine," she sighed, quelling her temper. "You certainly don't have to explain yourself to me. This won't be a problem during the mission?"

He shook his head.

"Do you promise me?"

He nodded.

"Good enough," she replied after a moment, walking past him.

Dmitry was bothered by the fact that he'd worried her, and even more-so that she seemed disappointed with him. It was not often that he felt uncomfortable with his own silence, but he couldn't help in that moment but feel that his silence had been wrong. The conversation left him almost more agitated than the pouring rain.

\------------------------------

Despite the less pleasant nature of their talk, Weiss still sat next to Dmitry when time came to leave, though they'd not spoken during the trip. He supposed there was not much reason to, there had been more important things to do, like catch Blake and Yang up on the whole of their plan, which Ruby had explained as they hummed along down the highway.

Now, however, the time for preparation was over. RWBY, Saber and Indigo each knew their duties, and the wall was no longer a distant strip along the horizon, but an endless, towing monolith. The Ural wall stretched far off into the distance in either direction, and stood two-hundred meters tall.

In the shadow of the metallic titan, a small, boxy facility stood some distance off the highway, only accessible from a gravel path and surrounded by chain-linked fence and barbed wire. The three vehicles pulled up via the path, their personnel off-loading.

1st Sergeant Killer and another of his engineers took to the main gate, quickly overcoming the electrical lock, allowing access to the yard beyond. The group approached the building, engineers falling behind the Rangers and Huntresses.

Ruby drew Crescent Rose and took a knee, the massive rifle unfolded, shouldered and aimed at the door. Blake unsheathed Gambol Shroud, the sword folding in on itself to take its pistol mode. The Faunus took similar aim. Korva and Jay were pressed against either side of the door, while Dmitry, Malik, and X-Ray covered their six at the gate. Weiss and Yang stuck close to Indigo.

Korva nodded to Jay, who grabbed the door-handle, flinging it open with a great push. Ruby and Blake maintained trigger-discipline as the tension led to silence. A moment passed, and the two Rangers pushed forward into the building.

Ruby kept waiting for some crack of gunfire, or yell. None came, and Jay re-appeared in the doorway, giving a thumbs up.

Indigo, Weiss and Yang followed closely, headed into the building. Dmitry and company pulled back from the gate to the door, meeting briefly with Ruby before she headed inside, summoned by Jay. Blake remained with those guarding the entrance. With the yard and facility both reasonably secured, it allowed the group to begin their next moves.

"Sergeant," said Korva as Keller came through the door. "We have enough personnel that I believe we can split our group down the middle, and achieve both our tasks together. As the breach is more of a priority, I'd like you to head to the wall. As much as I would prefer to join you, I don't think it wise to group our team leadership too tightly. My second in command, Malik, will join you instead."

He nodded.

"DeMarco!" he called. "We're splittin' up, you're in charge! York, Goldstein, Hoshi, you're with me! Everyone else, hand them your explosives, then hold down the fort 'till I get back! Get to work on them guns!

As the selected engineers readied themselves and filed back out, Korva turned to Ruby.

"I believe Yang and Blake would be better suited to the wall, do you agree?"

"Yang for sure," she agreed. "And Blake would probably have a better chance than me or Weiss, weapon-wise. We're staying back here then?"

"Yes. You, Weiss, Jay and I will stay to guard the engineers here while they repair the power transfer systems. Dmitry, Malik, Yang and Blake will escort Keller and his engineers into the wall to begin setting up the detonation. If all goes well, we'll call in Viper and exfil here after the job is done," she explained.

Yang pumped her fists together enthusiastically.

"Alright, we get to blow stuff up," she grinned. "I'll go tell them the good news."

"I'd like to go along to the wall too," said Weiss.

"Weiss," said Ruby. "Yang and Blake are better off going than us, they can handle it. You're more useful here; if something bad happens, your dust attacks can cover a lot of ground."

Whatever protest she might have offered was caught in her throat before it was given voice. Reluctantly, she conceded, and allowed for those who were designated to leave along their way.

Outside, Yang relayed the news to her teammate and Rangers. The masked soldiers accepted the orders without question, and Blake was fine with a course of action that concluded the mission more quickly. The trio from X-Ray had discussed their possible courses of action, and mostly through Young's urging, though Vin had eventually supported the idea, they scouts had elected to see the operation through to the end.

"If you're heading to the wall now," said the Specialist. "Then I'm onboard too. Rei and Vin work better together, so they can hang back. Would you guys mind an extra set of hands?"

Dmity and Malik, the ranking members of their half of the group, exchanged glances and mutually shrugged.

"I sure hope you're not claustrophobic," said Malik, turning back towards their small convoy.

Young smirked and looked back at this squad-mates.

"Well, I'll see you guys on the other side, then. Keep the Humvee warm for me," he said, before following the Rangers and Huntresses to the APCs.

Rei sighed as he watched him go.

"Yeah, pretty brave of him," said Vin.

"That asshole is gonna die."

\------------------------------

If one were to stand next to the Ural wall and face it, you would have to stare straight up in order to see the sky. It was not only massively tall, though, but also almost excessively thick. In order to make room for its vast defensive arrays and sensor suites, the wall measured in, on average, at roughly one-hundred meters from front to back at its base. The end facing the Scar sloped, and at the top it was closer to sixty meters.

Maintenance hatches dotted the interior of the wall's base every kilometer, so it was not hard to find an entrance. Indigo squad each had digital copies of the wall's schematics, which along with the needed points of detonation, had the locations of the hatches marked as points of entry. The power transfer facility, while some distance away, was still visible on the horizon. They had approached the breach as closely as they safely could following the highway, but Grimm could be seen far ahead, and so it was decided to proceed the rest of the way through the wall itself.

Malik ordered the APC drivers back to the power facility, as it was too dangerous to wait outside on their own. They could come back with the rest of the convoy once the defense systems were back online and the charges were set.

The hatches were well hidden unless someone already knew they were there, and had very simplistic magnetic locks that were thankfully still operational. It didn't take Keller long to bypass them and drag the thick metal barrier open.

Dmitry and Malik both tapped their visors, flipping to night-vision as they peered into the threshold. The interior was near pitch black, and cramped. There was not an inch of space wasted, and very little of it was used for comfortable movement. As such, except for the occasional maintenance hub, the corridors would allow for single-file movement only –two people shoulder-to-shoulder if they were lucky, or desperate.

Yang was given goggles to help her see, as the engineers slipped theirs on. Blake, as a Faunus, had excellent night-vision on her own, and didn't require them.

"Yang," said Malik, the Captain having briefed him on their newest killer cheerleaders on the trip up. "You take point, I'll be right behind keeping an eye on motion sensors. Keller, you're behind me, you're our eyes in this maze. Dmitry, Young, and Blake cover the six, everyone else keep your ears open and heads down."

The blonde Huntress cocked Ember Celica and proceeded forward in a cautious fighting stance. Ruby had relayed the Captains words to her earlier about Grimm sometimes crawling into the walls. She wasn't about to be caught off-guard. Malik followed maybe a foot behind her, a dim glow at her back from his motion sensor.

"We'll need to find a vertical shaft up to level 21," instructed Keller. "Then head through sub-section C, and follow that for about three klicks."

Malik sighed. "I hope everyone brought their walking shoes."

Keller pointed down to the corridor directly in front of them.

"Down there, take the second left, then five junctions down there should be a ladder we can climb up."

As dark and confining at the interior workings of the Ural wall was, the one blessing was that it was dry. The outer plating was so think they'd hardly have thought it was raining if they'd not just come out of a downpour. Still, the power couldn't come back to the wall soon enough; the dark was inconveniencing at best.

Through the second left and down the five junctions, the ladder lay at the center of a four-way corridor intersection, just as Keller had said it would. As the point-girl, Yang figured she was the first up, and hopped into the ladder. From what he'd seen of Weiss and Ruby, he figured Yang and Blake would be fine, and Dmitry was a Ranger so he knew he'd be okay, but Malik was concerned for the endurance of the engineers and their scout friend. While they weren't scaling the whole wall –yet anyway, they'd eventually have to crest the arch and work their way to the other side- the climbing and long distance would be tiring, and even if they didn't run into any sort of threat along the way, there was still the danger of exhaustion, and a wall without power was not a good place to be exhausted.

He put it in the back of his mind for now. One step at a time, he thought to himself; first, climb the ladder, then get to the breach, deal with the rest as it comes.

The overall distance from the base of the wall to level 21 was about ninety meters up. Yang had to remember to pace herself, as she honestly could have cleared the ladder in half the time it was taking her comrades below her. Blake, similarly, was agitated by the perceived slower pace. Sticking together was the best and safest course of action, however, and Yang was the front line of defense for the group.

That being said, she did hoist herself upward more quickly as they reached their destination. She thought it best to ensure the surroundings were clear before the rest reached the top. The Huntress kicked off the ladder, bounded off the opposite shaft wall, and landed in an identical four-way junction as the one they had started from. She whirled around, fists raised, scanning ever entrance point.

As eerie as the darkness and overall silence was, there seemed to obvious threat, and Malik's motion tracker had yet to alert them either. For now, they were safe.

She made way as the rest of the team caught up, stepping into one of the corridors. One by one, they each hopped off the ladder and onto the surrounding junction. Blake stuck her landing, indicating everyone had now caught up.

Keller gestured toward the corridor Yang stood in.

"Down that one. Should be a straight shot to the breach, just have to keep a good pace. You get us there, and we'll do the hard part."

"Ladies first, right?" smirked Yang, hoping to keep the mood light for the trek ahead.

There would be plenty of walking and darkness more yet.

\-----------------------------

Ruby sat, perched atop the power transfer facility's roof, Crescent Rose once again folded out into its rifle form. The young girl scanned the horizon, almost hoping for some sort of threat to appear. The rolling distance so far had been nothing by dull gray, mud, and rain. She briefly thought of Vale; it was so much more colorful there. Everything was bright, vibrant, not like where she was now. Everything, from the mountains, to Kotova, Saranpaul, the wall, it all just seemed to blend into itself. It was almost depressing, like a totally different world.

Suddenly she felt herself becoming extremely homesick. She longed to see Beacon again, to exchange smalltalk with team JNPR across the hall, to spend weekends in Vale, she even missed getting mixed up in trouble and investigations, or even classes.

It could have been worse, she supposed. It could have just been her, out in the rain, all alone with nothing to do but sit and fight off the Grimm. Instead, she had her team with her, and allies willing to help them find a way back, once all the craziness they'd been swept up in was concluded. In that, she found comfort.

"Don't doze off, half-pint. Wouldn't do to have our overwatch napping."

The Huntress tore out of her thoughts and looked behind her. Despite the masks, Ruby had gotten good at telling the Rangers apart by their distinct voices, excepting Dmitry of course. That, and by the build, lack of hair, and massive weapon, the scythe wielder easily knew it was Jay who had climbed onto the roof to join her before she'd even turned.

"Oh, hey Jay," she greeted.

"Anything good?" she asked, gesturing toward the horizon.

Ruby shook her head.

"Nothing. Just a lot of rain and mud."

"Hmm," she grunted. "Well, we still got some time for something exciting. You never know with the Grimm."

Ruby returned to Crescent Rose's scope, and she could hear Jay's crunching steps as she shuffled about the roof. Jay reminded her of Yang most of all, always ready for a fight, very lively. Ruby had decided she was fond of all of Saber, but Korva and Jay she liked the most, she admitted to herself. Maybe it was rude to play favorites with people, but she felt she resonated better with the two women.

It definitely had nothing to do with Jay telling her she was cool.

"This thing brings back memories," the Ranger murmured to herself.

Ruby turned to look at her again. Jay was staring up at the wall which dominated the rear of the facility.

"You've been over the wall before?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah, all Rangers have. Initiation, and some missions too. We hop on over the wall sometimes to clear out Grimm packs. There are people who actually still live out there, if you can believe it," she laughed.

"In the Scar?"

"Yeah," Jay nodded. "Some folks just plain old got left behind, as much as it sucks. It was before my time, but the old war against the Grimm was…rough. Dark times for just about everyone. The UNDF saw their chance to stuff those sonsabitches in a locker and they took it. We're stronger now, but nobody is sure an even longer fight against the Grimm back then would have ended well for us."

"Others just didn't like the UNDF walling shit off," she continued. "Thought they should keep fighting to get it all back, and when they didn't, those people decided, 'fuck it', and went out there to prove a point I guess. Some settlements are still around, some got demolished by the Grimm; the Rangers swing by to help them out since the UNDF won't."

It wasn't such an odd thing, Ruby supposed. There were, after all, several villages in every kingdom well outside the walls of the cities. Though on Remnant it was a necessity; space was precious in the kingdoms, and there was only so much room for everyone to live in, and only so many jobs behind the walls. Not enough for everyone as the population grew, so many people built communities outside the walls. The Hunters took much responsibility for these communities, and did much the same as the Rangers to help them, such as clearing Grimm herds.

The only difference was that living beyond the walls didn't seem necessary here. Kotova had been the only major city she'd seen so far, and beyond there was nothing but open land up to the wall. There seemed no shortage of space, and all of it would, under better circumstances, be free for the using, free of Grimm. The only explanation that was at least probable then, was that the people on the other side were indeed doing it based on principle.

She'd heard of worse reasons to do things. She did, however, briefly find amusement in the idea of humans caging the Grimm up behind walls, instead of how it seemed to be on the rest of Remnant. When everything was over, and they finally got their bearings on where they were in the world, Ruby hoped maybe Vale and the other kingdoms could be allies with the UNDF and the Rangers. Maybe someday all of Remnant could be like it was there; the Grimm put away, left to their own little corners of the world where they couldn't hurt anyone.

Ruby hoped to see Remnant like that one day. Maybe then she and Yang could go exploring like they'd always wanted to.

The spirits on the roof were raised, but beneath, boredom and anxiousness took hold.

Weiss leaned up against one of the walls, watching the engineers work intently. She hadn't an accurate guess of how long they'd been working, but already it felt too long. She was no technician, and could only guess at what they were doing, but they seemed thoroughly engrossed in the problem at hand. Occasionally some stray sparks would fly below the floor-panels where bound together wires ran like a stream, connected to this or that, or disappearing into another panel entirely. There was also the incessant clacking of fingers against keyboards, and the interspersed mummers of 'try it now' or 'let me switch this'.

Ruby stood watch on the roof, and the scouts from X-Ray that had stayed behind manned their Humvee's mounted turret near the front gate. The APC's also parked off the flank of the building, their armaments further compounding the teams. They were quite secure in their position, and no threat had yet to rear its head, but a gnawing worry loomed over the heiress.

She hypothesized that it may partially be due to their comrades off to part unknown, and she was right. Being separated from Yang and Blake after reuniting so soon left a bad taste in her mouth, regardless of the necessity. That, and Malik and Dmitry –the whole of Saber, had become valued allies since their meeting atop the mountains, which seemed so very long ago to her now, despite it having been only a handful of hours. Stressing must have warped her perception of time.

There was something more to it though. She found herself pondering the peculiar nature of their arrival on earth, as she'd heard the general refer to it once during their meeting with him. How far away in relation to Remnant were they? Were they warped through space? Was it something more, like crossing dimensions, realities? She'd never considered the Grimm to be anywhere other than Remnant, and that too laid a number of existential questions at her feet. All of it seemed out of some novel, a bad movie, the kind Jaune would be excited for.

Dear god, she was actually missing Jaune? She really was stressing too much.

She needed some sort of distraction from her present chain of thought. It wouldn't do to obsess over what she couldn't change, and she really didn't want to think about Jaune. The Captain was the only other person in the room that wasn't actively fawning over the mess of computer and electrical equipment. She casually approached the older woman who was looking on at the scrambling engineers.

"I don't suppose this will be over quickly?" asked Weiss.

Korva paid her a short glance before returning her gaze to the work.

"I won't pretend to be an engineer," she replied. "I haven't a clue. However I've learned that when dealing with specialists like these, it's of no help to pester them with questions while they work. Interruptions only make the waiting longer."

The logic couldn't be argued with, though Weiss would still feel better with some sort of time-frame to work with.

"I should thank you, while you're here," the Captain spoke.

Weiss looked up to her quizzically.

"Why is that?"

"You seem to have connected with Dmitry quite well. He's not a social person, especially given his silence. It makes me glad you do not judge him for it."

Given her recent frustration with the Ranger over just that, the compliment stung slightly.

"Do you know why he's like that?" she asked the Captain.

"I do not," she admitted. "He has never seen fit to explain it, and I'll not pry. It doesn't affect his skills as a Ranger, and until it does, I see no reason to force one out of him."

"Has he…have you ever noticed his reaction to rain?"

Korva nodded.

"It seems to make him anxious, yes. Again, it doesn't-"

"–Doesn't affect his skills, so you won't pry," Weiss finished.

The Captain made no reply. The Huntress mentally kicked herself for interrupting. Rude, she chided herself.

Korva, however, was nonplussed.

"I appreciate your concern for him. I understand you would rather have gone to the wall, but I would prefer to divide your team's skills equally to be safe, and Ruby was correct, your weapon and fighting style, as hers, lends itself better to open spaces."

The heiress folded her arms with a quiet sigh.

"Who said that was my reason for wanting to go?"

"I didn't mean to imply it was the only one," she replied. "Though it seemed reasonable to guess it was among them."

"Well…"

The lights above them suddenly flickered, and a dull whirring resounded beneath their feet. This was followed by several cheers from the engineers, who were high-fiving each other as they stood, and began replacing the paneling.

"Did you do it?" asked Korva.

The engineer that had been left in charge, DeMarco, nodded her head.

"Took a bit of re-wiring and resetting the system a few times, but we're in the green. The wall's guns should be pounding like angel's drums any second now."

Korva looked to Weiss with a smirk.

"Well, let's finish saving the day, shall we?"

Half the job was now done, and soon the crisis would be on its way to being over. Weiss, for once, was actually glad at how easy and non-eventful things had unfolded.

Which made the sudden explosion heard just outside the walls, and the subsequent gun-fire and piercing, whining shrieks and horrible hisses all that much more disappointing to hear.

\------------------------------

The silence of the long, dark walk down the sub-section C corridor was shattered as if made of thin glass. Thunderous booms and rapid cracks could be heard far to their right, though layers of metal walls. Thankfully the weapons bays of the wall were sealed behind sound-resistant layering, so as to avoid hearing damage to those within the walls who may be working as a weapon discharged. Even through them however, artillery cannon fire and .50 caliber rounds were loud, and their fury could not be drowned out completely.

The walls and floors seemed to shake with their combined might, and none of the group wanted to be the Grimm on the receiving end of such a volley.

"Well, at least we know they're okay," muttered Malik. "How much longer, Keller?"

The Sergeant was eyeing his schematics closely.

"We're almost there, we've been making good time. The first primary support should be directly to our left when we reach the end, through a junction."

"Do we really have enough explosives to do this?" asked Yang. "It seems pretty massive."

"Trust me, it ain't just about how much you got, but where you put it," said Keller, voice full of confidence. "These here charges pack a helluva wallop, and they're fusion based, so they burn like the goddamn sun. All we gotta do it take out the primary supports, and the secondary stress bearers next to em in a neat and tidy order, and then boom, the whole thing collapses into its own weight and we got ourselves a nice, makeshift barrier."

Yang nodded to herself. The engineers at least seemed to know exactly what they were doing, so with any luck, the whole mess would be over with within the hour. Then she could see Ruby again, and they could try to find a way home. She wondered how long they'd been gone. Were their friends and teachers at Beacon looking for them? Was their dad worried? Well, that was a stupid question; their dad worried about a lot of things, and they were of course one of them. She'd just have to make sure to get home to all of them in one piece.

That meant taking out the stupid wall.

She felt a nudge against her back, and looked over her shoulder at Malik.

"Hey, you all there?" he asked. "You seemed like you were spacing."

"Right, sorry. Just thinking about Ruby, that's all. I'll stay focused."

He nodded, accepting her word.

"She's your sister, right?"

"How'd you know?"

"I just know the look," Malik shrugged. "I've got a little sister too, so I can relate. Don't worry about her though. I've seen her in action, she's a force of nature. Just do your part, and you'll see her again."

"Right."

"You just-"

Malik's words stopped short as he halted his movement. The rest of the group did the same as he stared into his motion tracker's monitor. Nothing happened, nothing moved; everyone just sat tight, waiting for Malik to say something.

"That's the second time it picked something up, and then the readings just vanish," he muttered. "There was more this time too."

The Ranger sighed. The sensor couldn't seem to make up its mind as to whether they were alone or surrounded. His senses, however, told him that for the moment, there was no danger, and when it doubt, senses were usually the better bet.

"Keep moving, but stay alert; who knows what might be crawling around in here."

Hesitantly, the group moved forward again, dead silent as they had been before. The pounding of the guns continued, but lessened as they approached the breach, where the weapons were far too damaged to function. The vibrations could still be felt, like a heartbeat, pulsing sound through the corridors and walls.

Yang could swear she could hear the walls breathe.

In the back of the line, Dmitry, Young, and Blake pulled up the rear. The reverberation of the gun's recoil was agitating the Faunus' sensitive ears. Her discomfort drew the young Ranger's attention, as she occasionally massaged her forehead. She noticed his looks and waved it off.

"I'm okay," she hissed. "Just got a bit of a headache. Four ears will do that. I just wasn't expecting it to be so loud; I'm using some aura to protect them now, it shouldn't be a problem."

Blake sighed, massaging her forehead.

"That clicking isn't helping either, though."

The pounding Dmitry understood, so many cannons and guns, even behind protective layers, were still almost unbearably loud for those with only two ears. He could hear them just fine himself. However…there was no clicking. None that he could hear.

He let his rifle slump on its strap, freeing both hands. After grabbing her attention, he pounded his fist against his open palm, then nodded. He then tapped his index finger against the same open palm, and shook his head.

Blake narrowed her eyes in confusion.

"What?"

"I think he means the clicking," chimed in Young. "And I'll be honest, I don't hear it either. Are you sure your ears aren't just ringing?"

"How do you not hear it? It feels like it's right over us."

The group stopped again, the beeping of the motion tracker once again causing Malik to devote his full attention to it.

"Alright, screw my senses then, there's definitely something here," he grunted. "My readings say they're…on top of us? Around us too?"

"Think that thing might be busted?" chuckled Keller.

Dmitry was not so sure it was wrong. He gripped his rifle, and, on a hunch, looked directly above him and Blake. The silent Ranger wasn't able to immediately identify anything on the ceiling, but a slight, very fast skitter suddenly solidified the image for him. A spider-like Grimm, eight bladed and barbed legs coming together on a narrow body, a bulbous abdomen with jagged red markings, and a small white plate over his multi-eyed head, razor fangs twitching. Its size was comparable to that of an average household dog.

Upon realizing what he was looking at, he did not hesitate the pull the trigger of his rifle, blasting the disgusting beast full of chemically propelled lead. It hissed pathetically and fell between him and Blake, crumbled and dead.

The sudden burst of gunfire made the whole of the group jump and look back. They each took a look down, seeing the dead Grimm. That was when, even against the thundering of cannons, the corridor was filled with nothing but the sounds of angered hissing, and claws piercing through metal.

\------------------------------

"Get out of there you fucking idiot!"

Over the cries of the suddenly present Grimm, and the cracking on gunfire from Jay and Ruby, Weiss and Korva were greeted with the admittedly girlish screams of Vin, as the Humvee was being lifted up by its front. The scout clung uselessly to the mounted gun as his partner yelled for him to abandon the vehicle.

With a clumsy, screaming leap, Vin landed gut first on the dirt as the Humvee was flipped over completely. One of the APC's was completely totaled, and the other was limping about on several damaged wheels, firing its automated weapons at the perusing Grimm.

The Grimm in question were of a long, lithe, tube-ish nature. Their jaws split open at three points, creating a massive gaping mouth with two separate sets of crushing, razor teeth which seemed to extend most of the way down their throats. They lacked any limbs, and burrowed through the earth with extreme strength.

Korva recognized them immediately, identifying them as –aptly enough named- Wurms. Weiss realized their familiarity after a moment as well, though they went by the name of Sifters on Remnant, and generally populated the vast desert which spanned southern Vytal between Vale and Vaccuo. She'd not realized they had variations in the species that allowed for such movement in typical soil.

It was impossible to tell how many there were exactly, though it was safe to say at least a dozen. Two lay dead in the yard, both from well-placed sniper rounds from Crescent Rose if the lack of heads told Weiss anything. Rei and Vin traded short bursts with a pursing Wurm, though it was quickly closing the gap.

The heiress burst forth and pierced the Wurm's skull through with Myternaster as it came down on its arc to re-enter the ground. One fluid yank of the sword pulled it free, and threw the Wurm to the ground.

Vin barked out a thanks as he and Rei took a position closer to the building. Ruby jumped down from the roof to join her partner, deciding she was better off engaging the Grimm in close quarters. They were much too fast to waste time trying to snipe them.

A trio of the Wurms burst up from the ground, but were decapitated with one whirling swipe from Ruby. Weiss on the other hand, rushed to aid the APC drivers, who had managed to run one of the Wurm's over, and were attempting to blast the two chasing them with their mounted turret, though they were having little luck.

The Huntress leapt high onto the top of the vehicle, the drivers ceasing the turret fire upon her arrival. The revolving dust chambers of the Myternaster spun and clicked, landing on a blue marker. Weiss leapt again, plunging her rapier into the ground where the Wurms were in the process of burrowing. The surrounding soil suddenly became solid ice, trapping the Grimm within. After a moment their threshing tails ceased moving.

The Rangers, while finding difficulty with the fast prey, still made an excellent go of it. The very nature of Jay's weapon allowed for a margin of error in accuracy, and the rounds it fired powerful enough that only a few making contact would ensure the shredding of the target. As such, any Wurm that closed in on the yard was sure to feel at least a wounding bite, if not fall entirely.

Korva once again sunk into her decades of experience, and placed her shots well. A few went wide, the swerving and juking nature of their opponents providing difficult to gain a bead on. She cut down a Wurm that was making its way towards Ruby, but was surprised by a second that made a lunge directly at her from the left. On instinct she rolled forward, dodging the strike. The Wurm corrected its trajectory before reaching the earth, and swerved its long body after the Ranger.

Regaining her balance, Korva swiveled around and struck the incoming Grimm with the butt of her rifle. It did little actual harm, but allowed her to re-direct the attack enough to let her side-step away. While the Wurm re-oriented itself, the Captian blasted into the beast's midsection, severing its spine and causing it to fall limp.

The threat neutralized, she turned to Rei and Vin who were taking pot-shots at approaching Wurms form a distance.

"You two, cover me, I'm going for the Humvee!"

Before either of them could question why, she bolted across the chaos, leaving them with only her orders. Despite their confusion, they couldn't very well disobey an order for cover fire, and so advanced steadily some distance behind her, trying to draw the attention of the Wurms in the vicinity.

Thankfully the Humvee, while overturned, hadn't sustained much damage beyond the front bumper. The Ranger threw open the door, but the airbags had deployed upon its overturning, and so Korva was forced to abandon her rifle, and draw her knife, a classic bowie, and deflate the obstructing safety devices.

Her path more or less clear, she dove in, reaching for the radio, which proved slightly difficult the use upside down, but was still functional, which was the important part. She switched the frequency to match that of Viper 3-18; she had no idea just how far out the pilot was, though she knew he was be on station, and so decided to not take chances, and use the more powerful Humvee radio, as opposed to their portable comms.

"Saber team to Viper 3-18, do you read Viper 3-18? Over."

A moment of silent static later, the relieving voice of the pilot crackled through from the other end.

_"Captain, this is Viper. How can I be of assistance? Over."_

Korva almost chanced a grin.

"Viper, we have hostiles and our vehicles are damaged. We need air support and dust-off, ASAP. Over."

_"Roger that, Captain. I've been hanging a few klicks south-west; I've got your signal locked in. ETA, seven minutes. Over and out."_

Air support now on the way, it was time to abandon the Humvee. She couldn't have finished the call at a more opportune time; as she let go of the radio, another Wurm crashed through the windshield.

The Ranger fell flat onto her back against the roof of the Humvee, leaving the Grimm to bite into the seat behind her. Chunks of seat flying about as the Wurm pulled back, Korva struck out with her just-drawn knife, a classic bowie, and pierced the side of the creature's head with both hands. The blade gleamed through its jaw, and it hissed and squealed in pain.

The Wurm's strength, however, could not be denied, and it thrashed into the dashboard overhead, slamming Korva's arms into it and breaking her grip on the knife. She threw herself into a roll to the opposite side, predicting the Grimm's next move, which was a downward snap of its jaws. An opening presented, she did the only thing she could do, and grabbed onto the creature's neck, retaking the hilt of the knife, dragging and twisting it as much as she could.

Its thrashing intensified, thankfully banging the Captain mostly against the seats, until suddenly it cried a death-shriek, and flopped to the ground. This confused Korva, as she knew for a fact she'd not struck a fatal blow. Yanking the bloody knife from the jaw of the Wurm, she pulled herself out of the vehicle, only to see the rear half of the Grimm completely cut in half, a concerned teenage scythe wielder standing next to it.

Behind her, Weiss chased half a dozen Wurms off into the distance with her dust, the rest having gone quiet.

"Are you alright, Captain?" she asked.

Korva looked to Ruby approvingly as she cleaned her blade.

"It's been a while since I've tussled with a Grimm that close," she laughed. "I feel thirty again."

The Huntress smiled at the joke.

"Bloody tarts are running off. Guess we won't need the air support after all," said Vin, panting and visibly shaking slightly.

Just then a rumble shook the victors almost off their feet. At first they mistook it for an earthquake, but then they noticed a bulge, a large bulge, in the ground. One that seemed to be moving from the south toward them at considerable speed.

"Everyone get to the APC," said Korva, her voice tense.

Ruby looked at her in confusion.

"Wha-"

"Get to the APC now, everyone! Everyone file out, Jay, get down and go!"

It wasn't often that fear or anxiousness ever crept into Captain Korva's voice, so Jay knew not to ask questions. She leapt down from the roof, the engineers, having heard Korva over the radio, following close behind her out of the transfer facility. Weiss, already near the vehicle, stepped aside to allow those approaching access.

As the last of them cleared the front gate, the ground exploded a few meters away from the building they had been inhabiting, and a throaty, guttural roar filled the air.

When the debris cleared, a Wurm, multiple times the size and length of the foes they had just dispatched, swayed meters tall above them. It turned towards the group as they jumped into their only means of escape, and roared again, the sound chilling the blood of all who heard it. The object of its fury located, it lunched forward as the APC skidded against the gravel road and sped away, a shadow of its former speed, but enough to take them to momentary safety.

Their only hope now was to proceed south and pray they intercepted Viper 3-18. As the carrier, with all its remaining mechanical might, tried to escape its pursuer, Rei turned to Vin.

"If I was the kind of guy who believed in jinxes," he growled. "I would be shooting you right now."

\------------------------------

Amidst the hissing of lethal arachnids, the squeals of metal plates rended by razor appendages, and the fading booms of cannons, automatic gunfire and the thumping of shotguns could be heard.

"If I didn't hate spiders before, then I do now!" yelled Yang, pounding her fist into a leaping spider, the firepower of her gauntlet exploding the creature in two.

The nine ran full speed down the hallway, Yang furiously pulverizing any spider managing to claw its way out of the walls ahead of them. Dmitry, Young and Blake trailed behind, trading turns firing into the mass of multi-legged Grimm forming in their wake.

"Keller, distance?" shouted Malik, barely keeping pace with Yang, who was doing her job almost a little too well.

"Just ahead!" he replied. "If we don't stop, we'll get there in about a minute! Once we're through I can seal the junction off now that the power's back!"

"You heard him people, we stop for nothing! Yang, keep hitting like a freight train!"

In spite of the dire straits, Yang found it in her to smirk. She wound up another punch, splattering Grimm fluids across the wall.

"On that, I can deliver!"

Ahead, Yang could see the end of the long corridor. Four more spiders tore through the wall plating, blocking of their escape from the horde behind them. Yang charged further ahead and fired off multiple charged bolts from her gauntlets. The fiery projectiles lanced down the hallway, overwhelming the leaping foes and tearing them to pieces.

Crossing through the threshold, she didn't event stop, not daring to hold up the line behind her. Instead she leapt to the ladder in the center, and bounded off it to the corridor Keller had indicated they would be proceeding down.

One-by-one the group filed through, Keller immediately skidding around the doorway to a small control panel. Blake bounded through with cat-like agility, signaling the engineer that everyone was through. A few quick button presses, and a thick hatch door slammed closed from above, sealing the corridor off.

"Jesus," panted York. "What were those things?"

"Widows," answered Malik. "Must have been resting in the walls until the vibrations of the defense systems woke them up. That was when I started getting the readings."

"That door won't hold them long," Keller panted. "We need to move now. Just down there through the next junction."

Yang turned wordlessly, jogging down the meters through the junction. On the other side, the corridors suddenly stopped proceeding forward, and instead only split off left and right from a larger room that was comparable to the junctions, but lacked the vertical entryways. The only distinct feature was bulge in the wall that the Huntress concluded must be concealing the primary support.

"Alright," called Keller. "I'll grab this one. York, help me out. Goldstein, left, Hoshi right, get the secondaries."

"Yang, with Goldstein, Blake, with Hoshi," ordered Malik. "Dmitry, Young, watch that corridor."

A silent chorus of nods followed, and the group split up appropriately. York slid off his backpack, and handed Keller several semi-spherical metallic devices, roughly the size of a human hand. The charges snapped to the metal of the walls tightly, and the engineer twisted the both of them, causing a small red light on the center of the dome to begin blinking intermittently.

With them placed, Keller looked back down at his tablet, tapping it a few times. The temporarily absent members of their party returned, reporting their job completed. After a moment he nodded.

"Alright, charges are synched."

"Good," breathed Malik. "Where to now?"

Still looking at his tablet, Keller scrolled through the schematics.

"There's another cluster of secondary supports further down and running central through the wall, and the second primary is directly opposite of us."

"Okay. Dmitry," he called. "Take Keller, York, Young and Blake, and head to the next primary. I'll take the other two and Yang to grab the secondaries."

Dmitry and Keller nodded. The screech of peeling metal pierced through the stale air.

"I'll seal the rest of the junction off as we pass through it," said the engineer. "That door sounds like it's about to give. We'll meet up again a few levels up, Goldstein and Hoshi will know where to go."

"Agreed, let's get moving."

The group proceeded back the way they came, the sealed junction door shredded and very nearly breached. The hissing of the Widows were loud as ever. Keller sealed the door they had just passed through, and the door which Malik and his team used when they departed. Finally, as Dmitry ushered the last of their own team through, Keller slammed closed the final hatch.

Young sighed in relief.

"That should buy us some time."

"We should still assume there's more," warned Blake. "It's much quieter here, I'll keep my ears open."

Dmitry nodded, and took point, Keller falling in behind him to guide the way. The Ranger silently hoped that their friends at the transfer station were faring better than they were.

It seemed death was suddenly around every corner.


	5. I've Had Worse

“ _’Tis but a scratch!_ ” _  
_**–The Black Knight, Monty Python and the Holy Grail**

.

**Chapter 5: I’ve Had Worse**

The rain refused to let up over the grassy lands outside Kotova. The ground was soggy, its durability inconsistent, and thunder rolled through the clouds above. Lightning was in the distance. Nature’s wrath was, however, momentarily trumped by the fury of man-made weaponry.

Major Wilhelm pumped his legs as hard as he was able amidst the fire of mobile-artillery cannons, tank shells, and missiles streaking through the sky. His Chimera had taken some hits from a Blackbird on its way back from the front, and after a less than comfy landing, he elected to continue to the command tent on foot. His adrenaline pumped through his veins, making him nearly oblivious to the four-legged M9 Jotun combat-walker currently stepping over him. What little shadows that could be cast fell over him as the 240 metric ton metallic beast stomped its way through the mud and rain.

He could recognize the familiar defensive barricades up ahead, and rushed on forward. He waved to the camp guards, who waved back in recognition of his approach. The rain beat harder against him as he closed in on the flaps to the tent.

Colonel Biko looked up upon the entrance’s disturbance.

“Gregor,” he sighed in relief, his friend caked in mud and a little blood, but alive. “I’d feared the worst when you dropped out of contact. Are you alright?”

The Major nodded. “I am, though travel by air didn’t agree with me. Things are going as well as could be expected as far as I could observe, despite the mess our communications are in at the moment. The Grimm are caught up in the river, the artillery and armor are chewing them up, but the troops are not for want of targets.”

“Were you able to see anything regarding the wall?”

“Even with the observation equipment, nothing in detail, we couldn’t move too far past the front,” he admitted. “We could have circled about on a flank, but that would have taken too much time. I can at least confirm the weapons systems have been reactivated. From up there it was hard to miss that many flashes, even with the lightning. I’m not sure how many Grimm we’ve managed to pull from the breach, but the optimist in me would like to believe many, considering the situation east.”

Biko nodded solemnly, but he’d far from lost hope. Their combat effectiveness would only last so long; the defense systems online was half the job done, but the real prize had yet to be obtained. If Saber didn’t work fast, the 3rd Brigade would find themselves overwhelmed and have to chance a retreat. If only he had more resources to work with, but Kotova was still besieged from the outskirts, and it was a large perimeter to maintain.

“The _Helena_ should be arriving soon,” he reassured himself. “Or at least be in weapons range, though I get the feeling we’ll need to make use of their marines sooner rather than later.”

He turned back to Wilhelm.

“All we can do right now is keep stirring up a ruckus. Saber’s already gotten the defenses online, they’ll get the rest of the job done. All they need is breathing room. We’ll keep any many Grimm as we can corralled here.”

The Major nodded. “Of course, sir.”

“Our Southern-most line sounded shaky last they reported in. I want you down there, keep things organized.”

“Understood, though if it’s all the same,” he said, chancing a rattled laugh. “I’d prefer taking a Humvee this time.”

* * *

 

.50 caliber bullets were generally the go-to size of rounds one would use when dealing with Grimm any larger than a Grizzly. Of course, some Grimm could be so tough or large that not even those would be enough. Things like Blackbirds, Kobras, Scorpios, and certain Alphas; when these were encountered, it was basic procedure to call in heavier weapons. Artillery, rockets, missiles, any would do. If you lacked these weapons, you ran as best you could.

Even a fresh officer knew this. There was no shame in retreating from an overwhelming foe, to mount more effective resistance as opportunities presented, especially when the lives of others were on your shoulders.

Captain Korva remembered these words as the APC she, and her half of their patch-work group occupied, limped along at less than optimum speed, the screaming Wurm Alpha behind them. The ground quaked with each impact the Grimm made with the earth, and every emergence was met with a shower of mud and soil.

Jay fired her LMG, and Ruby her rifle, for all the good it did, and the APC was outfitted with a mounted gun and a few micro-missiles, just a step up from smart-grenades. These weapons would shred baser Grimm, but the massive Alpha shrugged all attempts to resist it off. If they were doing it any harm, it was negligible.

“It’s getting closer,” shouted Vin. “Can’t this thing go any faster?”

“Afraid not,” replied the Captain.

“Well we’re all boned if that things gets much closer,” Rei growled. “Nothing we’ve got is doing the trick.”

Jay glanced back between bursts of her LMG and scowled.

“Well, if you’ve got any bright ideas-”

Suddenly Ruby gasped.

“I have an idea!” she shouted. “We’ll need room though, get up here Weiss!”

Korva nodded, and motioned for Jay to move back with her, giving Ruby and Weiss the rear of the cabin. The Huntresses had a good track record thus far of managing to pull Saber out of the fire. She had faith the girls would pull through again.

“What’s the plan?” the heiress asked.

“Iceflower.”

“Iceflower?” she asked incredulously.

“Iceflower,” Ruby replied confidently.

“Ruby I don’t think that’s going to work on this thing,” Weiss argued.

“Just trust me,” was the younger huntresses’ only reply.

Weiss sighed, but if Ruby was anything, she was creative. The Iceflower maneuver had been her idea after all, and they lost nothing by trying. The Wurm was gaining on them, and their current tactics were proving ineffective. They needed to try something.

“Alright, fine.”

Ruby knelt down, shouldering Crescent Rose as Weiss took position off to her side.

“Set it up,” Ruby ordered.

The white huntress spun Myternaster’s dust chamber, landing on the white ice chamber, and thrust the blade forward, creating a bright, snowflake-like glyph at the foot of the cabin entrance. She held it there as Ruby aimed down her scope. The younger girl held her fire, waiting for an opportunity her older peer could not fathom.

The Alpha Wurm continued to rhythmically soar up and down from the earth, wrenching plant-life and soil from its appointed place into the air. It continued to draw closer, and Ruby had still not fired a shot.

“Ruby, if you’re going-”

Ruby shushed her, continuing to focus down her scope.

She watched the Wurm crash back down into the earth. She had its timing, it kept a consistent pace of motion. Ruby continued to wait and counted the seconds until it came up again.

Like clockwork, only a handful of seconds later, the ground exploded, and the Alpha Wurm screamed back outward.

The beast’s jaws flew wide open as it exited the ground, splitting the air with a horrific roar.

That was her moment.

Faster than Weiss or the Rangers had ever seen, Ruby cracked off five shots from Crescent Rose in a snap. Five blue projectiles lanced through the air, flash-freezing the rain as it pierced the space between the APC and the Wurm.

The first struck the Wurm’s outer jaw, exploding into a large chunk of solid ice. The next two hit their mark, flying directly into the Wurm’s mouth, striking the interior of its throat. The fourth impacted low, hitting the base of its mouth, the fifth flying true, and impacting even further into its throat.

The jagged ice-shards now occupying the Grimm’s throat caused it break from its otherwise uninterrupted path, and thrash to the side, gagging.

“Hot damn!” exclaimed Jay.

Vin laughed wildly. “Damn good shot!”

The Wurm’s pursuit ceased as it struggled against the ice-crystals jabbing and scraping at its innards. Ruby breathed a sigh of relief as the vehicle continued onward, the Grimm growing smaller in the distance as it dove back into the earth.

“I can’t believe that worked,” said Weiss.

Jay was laughing in the back as Indigo looked on in awe.

“These kids just keep getting weirder,” she bellowed. “I love this!”

Korva leaned forward to the kneeling Ruby, placing a hand on her shoulder. The girl looked back at the Captain, who was smiling wryly.

“Good shooting.”

Ruby smiled back at the praise.

“You as well, miss Schnee,” she continued. “Well done, it seems we’re in your debt yet again.”

Weiss shied away from the compliment, and instead tried to maintain grim maturity.

“Has there been any word from Viper?” she asked.

“We can try to contact him on the APC’s radio, provided it hasn’t been damaged,” she replied, looking to Jay and nodding toward the drivers seats.

She got up without a word, pushing up to the front of the vehicle. As she worked with the radio, the occupants of the cabin collectively sat back to catch their breaths. For the first time in what felt like an eternity, there was mostly silence, sans the rain, –which was now pouring even harder than before- and the roar of the strained engine.

“Do you think the others are alright?” asked Ruby.

Weiss glanced out the cabin hatch, still hanging open, the hydraulics likely damaged. Yang and Blake were probably fine, they were more than capable of dealing with whatever they might face, and they were within the wall.

The pouring rain brought Dmitry to her mind once again. She still felt bothered by not having gone to the wall. The Rangers, capable as they were, were still ordinary humans, still…she hated to use the word “fragile”, since they were anything but, but compared to Hunters, that’s how they seemed. She felt a worry for Dmitry, and Malik too she supposed, that she did not feel a necessity for towards Yang or Blake.

Regardless, she was glad she had been here. Had she not, the might have still been pursued by the Wurm.

Dmitry was a Ranger, she mentally lectured herself, and he could take care of himself. He would be fine without her.

“I’m sure they’re already well underway with their mission,” she replied. “By the time we reach them they may already be done.”

“You think?”

“Malik and Dmitry are fine Rangers,” said Korva. “With your teammates with them, I’m sure they have things well in hand.”

Two knocks resounded on the cabin wall. All three looked over to Jay, who motioned for Korva to come forward.

“We raised Viper, boss.”

“Good, I’ll speak with him.”

The Captain sat up from her seat, sliding past Jay as she returned to her seat. The radio lie between the two seats, the drivers faces masked by their helmets and visors, but they looked just as ragged as everyone else. The one in the passenger seat silently handed her the receiver, to which she nodded briskly.

“Viper 3-18, do you copy? Over.”

_“Captain, good to hear from you again. I notice your signal’s moving. Over.”_

“We ran into more trouble than we anticipated, we had to lead the hostiles away from the transfer facility. Are you still en-route to us? Over.”

_“Yeah, I’ve still got you pinged. I overshot you a little bit, but I should be within visual range in a min-”_

Korva didn’t even hear the crash of earth, or even feel the impact for the first second or two. It was mostly just the sensation that the whole world had flipped over, that direction had suddenly disappeared, and everything was tumbling around, up, down, and side-to-side. She felt herself fall back into the cabin, desperately fumbling for something to grab onto amidst the chaos.

She felt someone grab her arm, though she couldn’t tell who, everything moved to quickly. It prevented her from flying out of the hatch, though she felt a painful pop in her shoulder, and her back slammed hard against the metal ceiling. Her vision went white for a moment, her balance was gone, with no sense of up or down. She pressed the palm of her hand against the floor.

Ground, this was ground. Gravity was pressing down on her, and her back was to the ground. She was facing up.

That established, she began to look around. Her vision was still blurry, but she was able to make out the colorful shapes of the Huntresses first. Ruby was at her side, trying to help her up. Weiss was doing the same for Jay, who had luckily managed to buckle herself in before-hand, and was now free and struggling up to her feet.

She would have been impressed by their fortitude had she the mental faculties to do so. Right then, however, all her concentration was on getting upright, and assessing the situation.

“Is everyone alright?” she asked, a wave of nausea hitting her like a sock full of nickels to the stomach.

Ruby nodded. “Weiss and I are okay, just dizzy. Jay?”

“Hell of a headache,” she grunted. “Sore, and I think I pulled a few muscles, but could be worse. I’m still raring to go. Are our two of the three stooges still alive?”

Rei was massaging the back of his head, and Vin was moaning, dry-heaved once, but they both seemed conscious and alive.

“Just peachy,” Rei grumbled.

“Indigo is bruised and we’ve got some bleeding, but I think we’re green, ma’am,” reported DeMarco, the engineers unbuckling themselves, plopping to the ground ungracefully.

The Captain nodded, pressing herself further upward, ignoring and swallowing the bile that ticked the back of her throat. She was just now noticing the APC was upside down, as was everyone who had been seated.

“Jay,” she ordered. “Take point out, Weiss goes with you. Specialists, check the divers. Everyone else, file out behind.”

Weiss took position behind Jay, Myternaster raised as she exited the APC, followed closely by Ruby, who was helping to support Korva.

“Take it easy, Captain,” said Ruby as they passed through the hatch. “You’re bleeding, and your back is probably going to bruise.”

She could not deny the pain, grunting as she walked, but she smiled at the Huntress.

“This old Ranger’s taken worse beatings than this,” she said through a chuckle. “You should have seen training in the old days.”

“Drivers are KIA!” shouted Rei from the front.

“Damn,” cursed DeMarco. “So what the hell-”

Another explosion of earth and concrete showed down on them. A familiar screeching roar split open the air around them, and an ominous shadow fell.

The Alpha Wurm once again loomed over the group.

“Oh, goddamn it,” said Rei, upon exiting the APC and taking in the scene.

“This asshole don’t quit,” growled Jay, looking to Ruby. “Don’t suppose your magic trick would work a second time?”

“I don’t think so,” replied Ruby, her eyes anchored to the gigantic beast.

The Wurm drowned out their voices with another roar as it arched closer to them, seeming to sense their helplessness. Hearts raced and mouths went dry as each considered what, if anything, there was to do.

That was when they heard it. A muffled, melodic voice in the distance. Even the Wurm took notice, edging back just slightly.

“The hell is that noise?” mumbled Jay.

They each listened harder as it closed in.

_...a bang with the gang…_

_…they want me to hang…beatin’ the flack…_

“Is that…?” muttered Korva. “AC/DC?”

“What’s an AC/DC?” asked Ruby.

Suddenly the boom of multiple explosions nearly through the group off their feet. The Wurm was engulfed utterly in Air-to-Surface missile fire, and is screeched in pain and horror as it fell nearly to the ground. The missiles continued, and the thunder of a .70 caliber chin-mounted cannon chimed in, splintering through the tough hide.

Over the fire, pounding fury, and now the rhythmic thumping of VTOL rotors, the Chimera’s loudspeakers sang the most beautiful words any of them there had heard so far that day.

_Cause I’m back!_  
Yes I’m back!  
Well I’m back!  
Yes I’m back!  
  
Well I’m ba-a-a-ack! ba-a-a-ack!  
Well I’m back in black!  
Yes I’m back in black!

The weapons fire continued all the while as Viper 3-18 made a grand entrance, completely unloading on the alpha Wurm with seemingly every weapon at his disposal. The sustained fire gave it no room to breathe or move to safety, and under the weight it fell. The crash of its carcass shook the earth.

_“Shit, I’ve always wanted to do that! Ha-ha-hello, and welcome back to Viper airlines!”_ Rang the loudspeaker as 3-18 came in for the dust-off, guitars still blaring from his anthem of rock. _“I’ll be your captain once again, please be sure to buckle yourselves in tightly and enjoy the onboard entertainment.”_

The bodies of the drivers were retrieved from the APC, Rei and Vin loading them on as Jay helped Ruby get Korva onboard. When she was secured, Jay sat down next to her.

“Damn, Viper, usually guys take me out to dinner before they rock my world like that,”she cackled into her radio.

_“Well, after all this, I should have some hazard pay coming,”_ he replied. _“You seem the kinda woman who enjoys a good steak.”_

“You smooth motherfucker.”

“Ugh, I really don’t need to be hearing this,” Weiss grimaced.

Jay winked at her. “Don’t worry, princess, you’ll understand when you’re older.”

“That’s not what I –never mind.”

Korva cleared her throat roughly, causing everyone to snap back into a stance of professionalism. Jay in a rare moment of embarrassment, attended to the Captains shoulder.

“I’ll pop it back in on three, alright boss? One…t–”

“Jay, this isn’t the first dislocated shoulder I’ve had. Just pop it in and be done with it,” she interrupted, her voice level and stern.

The younger Ranger nodded, and rotated Korva’s arm back into its socket, a soft pop resounding. The Captain winced for a split second, but uttered nothing. She flexed her arm after a moment, and spun it around in a circular motion until satisfied.

“Thank you, Jay,” she said, matter-of-factly. “Now, Viper, we need to return to the wall, if you would be so kind. We still have a mission to complete.”

_“Yes ma’am, full speed ahead,”_ he complied. _“Request permission to continue rocking out, Captain?”_

“As long as you keep it off the external loudspeakers.”

_“Done and done.”_

The rock music that filled the rear canopy cut out, and was replaced a second later with a new song as the Chimra’s hatch closed and the inertia of their forward motion hit the passengers. It was a lighter melody, but retained a solid guitar riff.

The choice in music made Jay laugh harder, though the humor of it was lost on Weiss and Ruby, and some of the engineers for that matter. Ruby looked to Vin or Rei for possible answers, but Rei looked almost asleep, and Vin appeared to still be trying to hold back vomit.

_“Hold on tight, ladies and gentlemen. We have a wall to explode.”_

 The roar of the rotors and thrusters kicked in fully as the music blared on in the canopy.

_Headin’ into twilight_  
Spreadin’ out her wings tonight  
She got you jumpin’ off the deck  
And shovin’ into overdrive

_Hiiiighway tooo the Danger Zone  
I’ll take you riiiight intooo the Danger Zooone_

* * *

 

“Alright, this one’s set. We’re good to go,” confirmed Keller, stepping back from the armed demolition charge.

Dmitry nodded, and turned to Blake and Young, who were standing guard at the opposing end of the corridor. He tapped Blake’s shoulder once, and she turned to him as he tapped his ear. She’d quickly picked up this was his gesture to ask her if she was hearing anything on approach.

“They’re still coming, but if we keep up this pace and keep locking junctions behind us, I think we can keep ahead of them,” she said with wary confidence. “If we’re done though, we should get moving. There could be more elsewhere.”

“Agreed,” said Keller. “York, on your feet, we’re moving!”

The fellow engineer threw his sack back over his shoulder and was on his feet. Dmitry motioned for Young to watch their six while he took point. Blake was to keep close to Keller and York.

They each fell into formation, and proceeded forward.

“Alright, we have all the supports on the previous clusters set with charges, and this level’s been cleared too,” informed Keller. “If Goldstein and Hoshi are doing their jobs, we should be meeting up with them further down the line on this level.”

The engineer stopped as they passed through another junction, fiddling with the door controls at lightning speed. The hatch slammed shut.

“Fair warning,” he said as they resumed their brisk pace. “We’re getting awful close to the breach itself. Our schematics only have a rough estimate of its size, so don’t go barreling through many more junctions, you might not find a floor on the other side.”

“Duly noted,” panted Blake.

“Keep on forward to the next junction, then left three junctions, then we climb.”

Dmitry nodded. He could already see the next junction hatchway, and took extra care when crossing through, ensuring the floor was stable and there were no structural weaknesses that could prove dangerous to the team. Luckily, they still seemed to still be far enough from the damaged areas that the wall held firm internally.

He repeated the same procedure for the next series of junctions they traversed, being sure to seal them as they went.

“This is the one, right?” asked Young, as they passed through their third hatchway.

“It is, and it seems we got here first. Now we just have to wait.”

To their continued fortune and misfortune, their wait was not long. Malik’s team was heard far before they were seen, mostly because of Yang.

More specifically, because of Yang yelling.

Also the screaming and shooting, but mostly Yang yelling.

“Pick up the pace! Pick it up! I’m really starting to regret coming on this mission,” she shouted down the hall.

Yang came flying through the hatchway, Goldstein and Hoshi hefted over her shoulders, both of them screaming, and practically dove into the junction. Dmitry motioned for Blake and Young to stay, dashing to from whence the engineers hand come.

Down the hall, Malik was shuffling back towards the hatchway, firing off bursts from his carbine. Dmitry fell in next to him and began taking shots with his assault rifle. Widows were scurrying quickly along the floor and walls, too many for two rifles to hold off.

 “Yang,” cried out Blake as the panting blonde chucked the engineers to the floor.

“Are they injured?” asked Young.

“No…just slow,” she coughed.

“What happened?” Blake asked, helping Goldstein and Hoshi up.

“Jumped us while we were setting charges,” she replied. “Another secondary strut. We got it, but they’ve been riding our butts since. We should get moving.”

“I’ll second that,” grunted Keller.

“Your team should-”

Blake’s words were cut short, stopping in her throat as her ears twitched. She scrambled over to the edge of the floor to the vertical access ladder, peering down. The color drained from her face.

“Below!” she cried. “They’re coming up from below!”

The Faunus threw herself back to her feet, Yang following close behind. Dmitry and Malik were slowly giving ground, but were already almost to the threshold.

“They’re coming from below!” she shouted again.

Malik glanced back at her, then to the swarm of unrelenting widows. He swore under his breath, deciding the best course of action.

“How far down?”

“Three or four levels, maybe!” she replied.

The Ranger nodded. “Alright, Indigo goes up, then you and Yang! Dmitry, Young and I will cover you from here!”

Dmitry kept up his suppressive fire, but nodded.

“Hold up,” exclaimed Yang. “We can’t just leave you guys!”

“We’re expendable,” he shot back. “Indigo isn’t, and they still need an escort! I’m in charge, and I say go! We’ll catch up!”

Blake put a hand on Yang’s shoulder.

“Yang, we need to go.”

The Huntress sighed, but relented to her teammate’s request.

“Tell Keller to lock two of the hatches!” Malik continued. “I can lock this one well enough, the last one is our escape route.”

The sergeant popped his head through the threshold.

“I can still hear y’all, ya’are shouting! I won’t be able to guide you if we split up, I can’t guarantee you won’t hit a dead end!”

“We’ll figure it out, just go!”

Keller nodded, and followed through with the order. The other hatch the group had used, along with the adjacent hatch, were locked tightly. The final two were left to Malik. Indigo ascended the ladder, Yang and Blake following behind. Young kept an eye on the ascending Widows below.

“They’re getting close! Should I open fire?” he yelled.

Malik and Dmitry slide around the corners, Malik furiously attending to the door controls.

“One second, one second,” he muttered to himself.

The closest Widow hissed and leapt forward as Malik worked. Its fangs were bared, poised to strike, when Dmitry dropped his rifle, letting the weapon hang limply by its strap, and reacted in the way he though fastest.

With a straight, simple punch.

Far from a lethal blow, it did sent the Widow tumbling to the floor, rolling to his feet. A boot to the thorax, and a three-round burst to the abdomen put the Grimm down.

“Holy shit,” Young half-screamed, half-laughed. “Did you just punch that thing out of the air?”

Dmitry shrugged as the hatch closed.

“Okay,” growled Malik. “That’ll keep them busy for a minute. Now let’s get _their_ attention.”

The three took positions around the ladder access, and unleashed at full-auto. There was no way they were going to halt all the Widows, and they knew it. As long as they were able to divert attention away from Indigo, however, it would suffice.

They were able to drown the first dozen or two in bullets before the offending monsters were too close for comfort, and the hatch they had just sealed was now giving way.

“Who’s ready to test our luck?” said the elder Ranger, motioning for the two to get through the hatchway.

Dmitry took lead, Young following close behind. Malik attempted to stop every so often to fire pot-shots, but eventually gave up on the idea. There were too many, moving too fast. It was a pointless effort. Instead the three opted to continue running as fast as they could.

They continued running through two more junctions, hoping to gain some kind of lead so they could ascend up to the next level at least, but the Widows remained consistently at their heels. Approaching the next junction, they faced the worst conditions yet.

Widows were at their backs, and to Dmitry’s silent horror, they now poured out in front of them too. Not to the extent of the swarm that chased them, but enough that continuing forward was now a grave risk. The Ranger raised his rifle regardless, firing into the mass of arachnids.

As anyone could tell you, firing any sort of gun while running works about as well as threading a needle underwater. Many of his shots flew predictably wide, but the few that hit sent the sentries at the door scurrying back behind the safety of the wall.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” shouted Young.

“You’re welcome to turn back,” Malik replied.

The hissing and deafening clatter of razor-barbed legs against metal was all the convincing the scout needed that pressing on was the better option.

Dmitry picked up speed as they approached the hatchway. He dared not turn his head away from the opposing exit, but he could feel the Widows on the walls as they glared at him. No break in speed could be afforded here, and so he leapt across the gap of the vertical access ladder, landing safely on the other side.

Young watched, and mimicked the action, picking up speed as he passed through. He flung himself into the air, but the tip of his boot came short, hooking under the gap and causing him to trip his landing. He cursed as he fell.

The Widows saw their chance.

One leapt directly onto the scouts back, while another landed directly in front of him. He suppressed a whimper.

The Grimm bore their fangs as Young felt a thump against his back. A larger impact than a Widow.

The next thing he knew, the Widow on his back flew into the wall. The other was then punted across the room by a foreign boot.

“I hate these damn thing,” grumbled Malik, hopping off of Young.

The Ranger offered his hand.

“Come on, we have to keep mov –SHIT!”

Another Widow leapt from the ceiling, narrowly missing the Ranger. The creature instead landed behind him, but a burst of fire from Dmitry’s assault rifle put it down. The younger Ranger re-appeared to fend off the Grimm while Malik pulled Young up.

The true swarm was now upon them, pouring through the hatchway like a flood of legs and screeching venom. Malik pushed Young through the hatch as a Widow dove for his exposed back. Dmitry, his clip empty, smashed the Grimm with the butt of his rifle. He then turned to do the same to another, which had attempted to take advantage of his turned back as well, pinning it to the wall, while stomping a third’s head under his boot.

However, there we simply too many to fight, and Dmitry knew immediately, as six barbed legs dug tightly into his sides, and two more into his shoulders, just what was coming next.

A sharp pain in his right shoulder, near his neck. He should have screamed, even he was surprised when he didn’t, but all that escaped Dmitry was a long exhale. His legs fell out from under him, his vision became a blur, and things went surreally quiet. He vaguely felt the Widow being pulled from his back, and a pair of arms catching him, lifting him up, but he wasn’t sure. He couldn’t quite tell what was going on.

Everything suddenly seemed slower and heavier.

To his fortune, however, he was lifted, and was now being carried by Malik. The blood from the wound dribbled out in rhythmic trickles, and the Widow’s legs had sliced right through his coat and combat vest, into his flesh.

“Is he okay?”

“Not if he doesn’t get some help,” answered Malik. “Widows carry Cardiotoxins.”

“Cardio-what’s?”

Malik growled as they just barely kept ahead of the Grimm at their backs.

“Heart venom! His heart’s going to give out if we don’t do something soon!”

Young would have cursed himself, had he the breath to do so. As it was, they had no more energy to spare. Ahead the corridor was coming to an end, but there was no junction, just gray air and a slight chill.

The breach, he realized. They’d reached the end and were now at the actual breach. Malik slowed to a stop just beyond, as the floor gave way to nothing but cold air.

Had he the time to admire it, he would have found the breach of the wall breathtaking in a way. For dozens of meters above and below, he could see a cross-section of nearly the whole wall. The blast had eaten out an archway that extended nearly to the top. It would have given a neutral onlooker a truly accurate representation of massive it, and the wall, was. At the very bottom, the river of Grimm which poured from the Scar out into the fields towards Kotova flowed onward, trickling north-west, toward the vague glow and flashes of battle in the distance.

The rain continued on, even harder than when they had entered, now accompanied by sporadic thunder, though it sounded far off. He’d almost forgotten about the rain. Thankfully the breach shielded them from the downpour. Small luxuries, he supposed.

“Shit, dead end,” Malik muttered to himself.

Young panted heavily, whipping his head around in every direction, looking for something that could aide them. He looked down, and his mind raced as he lay his eyes on an extended slab of scaffolding, raced with a projected path they might take.

Yes, he thought to himself, that would work.

“Malik,” he exclaimed. “There’s a platform just below us, some scaffolding. Its maybe two meters down, we can jump it. I think I can put together a path down, maybe we can stay ahead of these things.”

Malik looked down, then glanced to Young.

“You sure that’ll hold our weight?”

He nodded. “I’ve jumped down onto more precarious perches than that.”

The Ranger sighed. “Not like there’s any better option.”

He then wordlessly hurled himself over the edge, gripping Dmitry tightly to ensure he would remain secure upon impact. Young’s assumption had proven right, and the platform held, though it creaked more than he would have felt comfortable with.

Young’s landing was much softer, lacking the extra weight.

“Through here,” he led, bringing them through the hatchway of the lower floor. The wall on one side had been sheared off, allowing for them to slowly slide down to the next lower floor.

Above, and further into the corridor, they could hear the rattle of the Widows. At Young’s discretion, they continued their trek downward.

* * *

 

Viper 3-18 hovered low near breach on the UNDF side of the wall. With Korva’s shoulder reset, the only injury still causing her trouble was her back. That was a negligible injury by comparison though, and she stood behind the helmeted Viper as he scanned the surroundings with his instruments.

“Anything?” she asked.

“Well, I’m getting two clusters of radio signals. One’s faint, and just about crowning the breach, so I’d hazard they’re about halfway done. The other’s much lower and clearer, coming from damn-near inside the breach. It’s also smaller, like they split off.”

“Can you isolate whose signal is whose?”

The pilot tapped onto one of his command consoles, momentarily silent for a change.

“Yes and no,” he replied finally. “There’s definitely three signals from the smaller group, and two of them are definitely Ranger signals. Can’t make any special identification out of the third one. Could be one of your schoolgirls, could be Indigo, or it could be Chuckles #3, who knows.”

Korva furrowed her brow. Malik would never split away from the group unless the situation demanded it, and for both he and Dmitry to be so far away from the rest of the group, that close to the breach? She didn’t like it.

“Viper, take us in toward those signals. I get the feeling our Rangers may need assistance.”

“Can I-”

“You had your moment,” she said, cutting him off as she turned back to the canopy. “I think once was enough. Maybe next time.”

He nodded, dejected.

“Yeah, fair enough.”

“Ruby,” the Captain called. “Do you have any more magic tricks?”

The crimson Huntress perked up, and immediately looked to Weiss.

“Weiss, I think it’s time for Cherry Bomb.”

* * *

 

Malik and Young landed with a resounding thunk as their boots hit a yet still lower floor. They’d been scrambling for a few minutes, and were beginning to run out of breath. The two stopped for just a moment to recuperate, Malik beginning to worry over how quiet Dmitry was growing. Young had removed his mask, revealing the color which was draining from his face. His grip was growing more lax by the minute.

“Dmitry,” said Malik, readjusting the young Ranger’s position over his shoulder. “Come on, stay with us.”

He offered no response, only the lazy lulling of his head denoted consciousness.

“Let me carry him,” Young offered.

“I’m fine.”

“You’re exhausted, now let me carry him…uh, sir.”

Malik snickered.

“Fine, as long as you don’t call me sir.”

Young grinned, and took ahold of Dmitry’s waist, hefting him over from Malik’s shoulder to his own. Above them, the hissing intensified, the clattering growing closer and louder.

“We need to move,” Malik grimaced.

“There’s another walkway below us. We’ll need to jump, but it’s doable,” Young said, peering over the edge.

Malik nodded.

“Take him first,” he said, tilting his head towards Dmitry. “I’ll watch your back.”

Young nodded back. He glimpsed over the ledge again, and then took two precautionary leans forward before pushing off over the side. The metal grating below creaked and wobbled under their weight, and a heart spiking snap of metal reverberated beneath him. He froze in place, but the ground under his feet held, leaving him to breathe a sigh of relief.

Cautiously, he sidled into the blown open corridor, both for safety and to make room for Malik. Like many of the others, it was littered with debris and warped metal, impassable. It really _had_ been a miracle they hadn’t hit a total dead end.

“Well that didn’t sound good,” remarked Malik from above.

“I don’t know if it’ll support another jump down,” Young called back up.

The Ranger sighed. He was damned if he did and damned if he didn’t. Staying put was death.

“Knowing my luck with cliffs and ledges, I’m going to fall right off to my death,” he muttered to himself as he leapt off.

The Ranger clenched his teeth as his feet struck the metal, and immediately another snap resounded. The floor began to dip downward, causing him to lose his balance and begin to slide over the edge. He searched for a groove or divot to grip, but there was none.

Young rushed forward, Dmitry still over his shoulder, and reached out with his free hand. The scout slid onto his knee as they clasped grips. Malik’s fall was prevented, but Young was now immobilized.

“Yeah,” Malik sighed. “Called that one.”

Above, familiar hisses and clatters were closer than ever before. Malik looked up and could see the Widows continuing to pursue them, the ruckus the snapping metal made gave away their position perfectly. They were only a few meters up and closing.

Nothing prevented Rangers from following a chosen religious faith, but few had one. Rangers were taught from day one to be self-sufficient, to accept help when offered but to never assume or plan around the assumption that it would be given or available, to cooperate and collaborate, but not to let cohesion dull one’s own senses. Relying on an invisible cosmic force to provide for you, in place of your own tangible abilities and resources, did not mesh well with common Ranger sensibilities.

That being said, it didn’t stop Malik from offering a small prayer. If there were ever a time for it, he thought to himself, it would be now. Dad would be happy.

The Widows continued on their skittering march downward. Young tried in vain to pull Malik up, but only served to almost cause him to slip off his own feet.

“You have to drop me,” Malik concluded.

“What?”

“There’s some loose beams down below here,” he explained. “I think I can catch myself. Drop me and keep going, we’re all dead like this.”

Young’s gaze darted from the Widows above them to the Ranger’s whose lives he now quite literally held in his hands. His look to Malik was unsure, but his superior was resolute in his returning stare. Without even verbally agreeing, he could feel his grip loosening.

Malik looked down, then back to Young.

“See you on the other side.”

Whatever response Young might have given was drowned out by the series of explosions which illuminated the air directly above them. Both his and Malik’s faces shot up, and they watched as Widows rained from the sky, screeching their horrid screeches as they burned along their long fall to the ground. Crimson bolts lit the darkened sky as fiery death was rained on their pursuing Grimm.

In the intervals between the strikes, they could hear the sound of rotors slicing through the wind. They struggled to locate the source when suddenly a pair of spotlights flickered to life above them, and the silhouette of a Chimera dropship was visible. From it, the red streaks lanced, a red glyph softly glowing in front of the rear canopy hatch.

It swiftly lowered, and the glyph dissipated. Over his shoulder, Malik could see Ruby and Weiss waving them over as the canopy closed in on them. The Ranger pulled himself from Young’s grip, dropping down the rest of the way, both feet hitting the edge of the hatch’s gangway. He immediately turned and yelled for Young to follow after him.

The scout leapt down, falling to his knees on impact. Dmitry was laid out on the ground. Malik throw off his mask and scrambled toward his teammate, pulling him in further. As the Chimera pulled away from the wall and took back its position in the sky, the looks of triumph on the occupant’s faces faded upon seeing the bloodied, unresponsive form of the young Ranger.

Malik breathed heavy, but there was absolutely no time to waste. The venom had had far too much time to work its way through Dmitry’s system, and finally he had some resources with which to treat his fallen friend.

“Jay, first-aid kit, throw it here, now,” he demanded.

She did as he said, but he was hit with a barrage of questions from the rest of the passengers. Korva looked on, concerned but silent.

“What’s wrong with him?” asked Ruby, worriedly, falling to her hands and knees next to him.

“What happened?” shouted Weiss. “Malik, tell me, what happened to him? What’s wrong?”

Malik ignored them.

“Jay, that kit!”

“Got it,” she replied, tossing him the white box with a red cross.

He threw it open, frantically throwing the useless equipment aside, until he found what he needed. Two syringes filled with a thick yellow liquid. He tore the plastic caps off the needles, and inspected that they were in good condition.

“Get his vest and shirt off,” he commanded.

Weiss looked at him incredulously.

“His clothes, get them off, now! I don’t care how, just get the fabric out of the way!”

The girls pulled at the vest, but fumbled with its durable straps, and the white Huntress growled in frustration. In her fit, she ceased holding back and worked her fingers into the bloody tears in the vest, ripping it in half. She did the same with the should strap, tossing the obstructing gear away. Were Dmitry not dying before them, Malik may have been dumbfounded that a teenage girl just ripped a pullet-proof Kevlar combat vest in half with her bare hands, but it was far too convenient to question for the situation at hand.

The action was repeated with his fatigues underneath, and his bare chest now lay open, his sides smeared with blood which was already beginning to pool on the floor.

“What are those?” questioned Ruby.

“Stim Injectors,” he finally answered. “Better than adrenaline.”

Jay stepped forward. “Malik, that’s a fatal dose!”

“He got bit by a Widow, there’s cardiotoxins running through his system. If we do nothing, he dies in the next few minutes, this’ll at least probably level it out and keep him alive until we can get help,” he retorted.

Malik’s gaze shifted through the passengers, but one argued back.

“Ruby, Weiss, hold him down. He might spasm.”

They followed his instructions wordlessly. Malik pressed the needles just above Dmitry’s chest.

“Sorry, my friend,” he said, stuffing some folded cloth into mouth with his free hand, and pressing his jaw shut on it. “This is going to hurt a lot.”

The Ranger then raised his hand up, and plunged the needles deep into his teammates chest, pressing the liquid into his body. The second the syringes pierced his flesh, Dmitry took in a sharp breath that then turned into a low growl. They waited for a scream or yell, but it never came. Whether he had not the energy for it, or if even now he fought to keep himself silent, they couldn’t tell.

He fought against the Huntresses’ grip, but they were able to keep him pinned as the Stims did their work. Once the last drop was squeezed in, Malik pulled the foreign objects out of the young Ranger’s body, throwing them aside. Immediately, he removed one of his gloves and put it up to Dmitry’s neck, and pressed his ear to his chest.

The thumps of his heartbeat that were once so faint and rare, now pounded like it was fighting to escape his chest. After a handful of seconds, it subsided, still intense, but if Malik was right, the danger was thwarted for the time being. Dmitry had endured.

“He should be okay for now. We still need to disinfect his wounds and bandage him up.”

He looked to the first-aid kit, to see Weiss already had spray and bandages in hand.

“I’ll do it,” she said. “The Captain wants to talk to you, I’ve bandaged plenty of wounds.”

He was unsure for a split second, then remembered who he was talking to. They were basically superheroes, of course they knew first-aid.

He nodded, and left Dmitry in the Huntress’ care. The Captain sat deeply against the wall, looking worse for wear, but if Malik knew anything, it that the Captain wouldn’t quiet unless the mission was done, or she had no more limbs left to complete it.

She looked past him at Dmitry, Weiss shedding his coat and tossing his ruined clothes to the side.

“Will he be alright?” she asked.

Malik nodded. “For now, but he really needs medical attention. All that was, was a stalling tactic. The venom is still in there, and that Stim will wear off in about an hour, maybe two if we’re really lucky, and our luck seems to be all over the place today.”

She nodded slowly.

“What’s the status of the team?”

“Yang and Blake are with Indigo. Dmitry, Young and I split off to lead that horde of Widows away from them. We were getting hounded and overrun. Provided they didn’t run into more trouble, I’d imagine they’d crowned the breach by now.”

“They did so already,” she confirmed. “Viper has a faint read on their signal. They’re descending right now, we’re going to back them up. I’d like for you to stay with Dmitry if his condition worsens, plus you look exhausted.”

“You’re one to talk, ma’am,” he grinned.

She scowled at him.

“You and Jay…don’t you start treating me like some old woman the second I get hurt,” she scolded. “I was a Ranger while you both were learning what comes after four, and Dmitry was a glimmer in his parent’s eyes, I can handle some bruises.”

He nodded. “Of course, ma’am.”

His acceptance of her lecture made her grin as well, despite herself.

“I really do sound like an old woman, don’t I?”

“Age is just a number, Captain.”

“Good answer,” she said as she stood from her seat, patting him on the shoulder as she did so. “I’m going to talk with Viper, and we’ll send in a team to the other side of the breach to reinforce Indigo and our Huntresses.”

“Understood.”

As she walked up the cockpit, Malik looked back over to Dmitry. Weiss seemed to be doing a good job of patching him up. He just hoped all the trouble he’d put him through had been worth it.

Meanwhile, Weiss sprayed disinfectant onto the bite-wound which marred Dmitry’s shoulder. She’d already wiped away some of the blood, oblivious to the fact that it had stained her hands and her dress. He didn’t react to what would under normal circumstances be a sharp stinging sensation; he was likely far too tired to even do that, or perhaps the pain he’d already experience numbed him to the minor inconvenience. Instead he simply laid mostly limp, leaning against Weiss’ lap as she secured a bandage and gauze.

“He’s tough,” said Ruby suddenly.

Weiss lifted her head to face her leader, who was still on her hands and knees across from her.

“What?”

“I said he’s tough. He’ll be okay.”

The Huntress looked down again. He looked so peaceful, oddly enough. Ironic given the chaos of just a few moments ago.

She nodded.

“I know.”

“Do you need any help?”

“No,” she replied, shaking her head. “I can handle it. Though if you could, ask the Captain if there’s anywhere we can lay him down that’s not the floor once I get him patched up.”

Ruby nodded back.

“Sure thing.”

Sometimes Weiss envied Ruby’s optimism, even in the face of disparaging realities. Realistically speaking, Dmitry’s chances were still not great. She’d told herself he would be fine before, and that obviously didn’t turn out to be true. All she could really do was help make him comfortable, and aide in completing the mission as quickly as possible so as to deliver him to proper medical care.

She placed a hand on his forehead. It was damp with sweat, yet somehow cold. The blood was still drained from his face.

Weiss sighed, picked up the rag, and began dabbing one of the lacerations on his side.


End file.
